Return to Akavir
by RevvEmUp
Summary: Sixth installation of 5E. Nearing Saturalia, the crew of the Northern Cardinal II Is called once more to action by The Blades. This time, they venture to Akavir to prevent a threat coming to Tamriel. Brhuce Hammar belongs to Trainwiz.
1. Chapter 1

In Proudspire Manor, Nisfar is playing a familiar, low-resolution video game on Drake's computer in his bedroom. "Hey, Nisfar. What are you doing?" Drake's voice projected from his mine-reading telepathy circlet as he enters the room. "I'm playing one of your video games; The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It follows my adventures as the Nerevarine. It's so accurate it even has the Blade spies from Vvardenfell. I miss them so much." Nisfar replied. "Don't get too attached. How far have you gone?" asked Drake. "I just talked with the Balmora Blades. I spent thirty minutes making my character look like Me." Nisfar answered.

"That's nothing. I spent two hours making my character in The Elder Scrolls Online. One time, I found Trueflame while fishing in Stonefalls; it's a rare item in the game." Drake boasted. "How did it end up there?" Nisfar asked. "Sometimes Ze'niMax put stuff in their games while ignoring the history to be funny. You wanna do anything interesting today?" Drake asked. "What are you planning?" Nisfar asked. "You've been staying with me for a while now, you need some new digs." Drake replied.

"Digs?" Nisfar questioned, confused. "We're going shopping." Drake corrected. They arrive at a thrift shop on the outer edge of Solitude. "Welcome to Lost and Found; if you can't find it here it's probably lost." Drake said as they enter the automatic doors of the shop. "What can you find here?" Nisfar asked.

"Absolutely anything that's used, old, weird, or all of those blended into one. I got this cool aviation jacket from the Fourth Great War here. It was my grandad's clothes; he was a friend of the owner. Cool, right?" Drake replied as he pointed to his jacket. "What are we looking for?" Nisfar asked. "How much money do you have?" asked Drake. "About five-hundred Septims, we can get clothes or something." Nisfar suggested. "We can get so much more. We can get a cool lamp for you, or maybe a slaughterfish wall trophy. What's that you're holding?" Drake asked as he pointed to taxidermy Nisfar held.

"It looks like a stuffed bantam guar." Nisfar answered. "Let's ignore that and look for less-weirder stuff." Drake suggested. They browse the shop and find interesting items and trinkets before going to checkout. "We got a blazer, various jeans, crazy hats, and even an Elder Scroll lamp. I'd say it was a good day today." Drake listed as he held two shopping bags while exiting the store.

"I bought what you call a board game." Nisfar as he showed Drake a box with fantasy illustrations. "That's the nineteen-eighty-seven edition of Battle of Heroes, It's pretty rare to find. When did you get that?" Drake asked. "I got it last-minute before we left. Let's play it when we get back." Nisfar suggested. They return to Proudspire Manor and they immediately open the box on the coffee table. "I already know how to play… and it's boring. We'll use these cards with new rules: we battle each other with the cards according to their strength." Drake said.

They were about to play when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Drake said. He opens the door to see a Breton with messy, brown hair. "Y-you're… Todd Howard! What are you doing here?" Drake asked. "Mr. Dragon-Bane, you are invited to play the alpha of The Elder Scrolls IV at Bruma Game Studios in Imperial City." the Breton said in a young-sounding voice betraying his age.

"Me? Invited? Can I bring a friend?" Drake asked excitedly. "The more the merrier." Todd answered before Drake turns around and uses his iPear. "Immok, we're invited to Bruma Game Studios to test TES IV!" Drake texted rapidly. "Really, because I'm right at your house." Immok, Drake's Nord crewmate with a cheek tattoo, said as he walked behind Todd. "Hey Nisfar, we're going to Imperial City!" a scream intensified from the circlet.

They enter a black Limousine and drivewest. "When's release?" asked Drake. "You'll see." said Todd. They arrive at a museum in The Reach. "Wait, this isn't Imperial City." Immok said.

"No, this is Cloud Ruler Museum." Todd said. "Why are we here?" Nisfar asked. "The Blades need you, Dragonborn." Todd said. "Oh no, you didn't think I know how this goes? You people used my great-great grandfather for your own needs. I've already been immersed in The Way of the Voice." Drake said. "We didn't need to look for the Dragonborn in particular. You were needed according to intel." said Todd.

"Hey, isn't that Sheogorath's vehicle outside?" Nisfar wondered as he looked out his wondow. The driver turns around and reveals to be Sheogorath wearing a black chauffer hat. "Hello!" he greeted. "I'll explain once we get in." Todd said as they exit the limousine and enter the museum. They enter the temple and are surrounded by display cases of artefacts from Skyrim to Akavir.

"As you all know, Cloud Ruler Museum used to be an old Blades headquarters. Under this building are hundreds of miles of Blades facilities." Todd explained. "What kinds of facilities?" Immok asked. "We have several surveillance divisions, training areas, everything a covert ops organization needs." Todd explained. They eventually enter a room with an ancient sculpted wall depicting events; Alduin's Wall, and a long table, Daphne, a middle-aged Breton woman and Blades Grandmaster, and a middle-aged Redguard in military fatigues sitting on opposite sides. "Colonel Frank Owlin. You are with the Blades?" Drake asked the Redguard.

"Dragon-Bane. Yes, I have been for a while. James told me to say hi to you next we meet. So, hi." the Redguard greeted emotionlessly. "Colonel, what are you doing here?" Immok asked. "I'm head of the military branch of the Blades and their ambassador to the Empire Government. I can't tell you more; that is classified information." Colonel Owlin explained, once again without emotion. "Yes, that's quite enough information. Everyone, please take a seat." Todd offered. Drake, Immok, Nisfar, and Sheogorath sit on four seats facing Alduin's wall.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

"In one month, Ka Po' Tun soldiers will invade Morrowind. We need to try to prevent that by going to Akavir." Todd explained. "How did you know?" Nisfar asked. "My roommate Jyggalag can predict the future and stuff. He told me about this and immediately I came here to warn everyone." Sheogorath explained. "I'm… just gonna leave." Immok said nervously as he walks backwards toward the door.

"How do we get there? Not a lot of people come back from Akavir." Owlin wondered. "The fog is so thick you can literally cut through it. The reason why my team safely navigated through it is because we followed the dragon we were tracking." Nisfar said. "I read that on the historical documents. Where are we going to find a dragon?" Owlin asked. "I know a few dragons that may help us." Drake said. "Odahviing, and Durnheviir are most likely going to help us than Paarthurnax. Despite saving his behind during the research trip for Skyrim he won't return any favours." Todd said.

"Yeah he hates the Blades considering you guys tried to kill him and Odahviing refuses to guide me there. I'm sure Durnheviir won't mind… if I can find him." Drake said. "You've never met Durnheviir?" Todd asked. "No, I only went to the Soul Cairn to rescue my first mate. I never found the time to go back there, I really want Arvak." Drake answered. "How are we going to the Soul Cairn in time? Castle Volkihar's is destroyed." Todd said. Suddenly, a gold bullet-train-like steam train crashes in through a window.

Brhuce Hammar steps out of the train's doors and Brhuce jumps down from it. "Lord Todd Howard, I have arrived, as you asked." Brhuce said as he knelt at Todd's feet. "Just call me Mister Howard, you weirdo." Todd said dismissively. "He looks so… vulnerable like this. It's weird." Nisfar commented as Brhuce and Todd speak. "Drake, Nisfar, get in the train." Todd instructed. Drake, Nisfar, and Brhcue enter the train and teleport away.

"What happened?!" Immok wondered in concern as he bursts into the room. The train arrives in the Soul Cairn where a young Nord woman dressed in a black dress and dark makeup was sitting on a rock, looking at the sky. "Hey, why are you still here? Get out!" Brhuce scolded the woman. "I can come here as much as I want and can stay here as long as I want!" the woman rebuked. "Forget her. We need to get to… guys?" Brhuce said.

He turns around to see Drake fell face-flat on the ground from the train. "What's Drake doing here again?" the woman asked. "You know him? Then you should know what to do." Brhuce said. "I didn't bring a soul gem for me to soul trap him." The woman said. "I think he's dead." Nisfar commented as he kicked Drake's body.

Time suddenly stops and then reverses to when the group was in the meeting room. Drake, Nisfar, get in the train." Todd instructed. "I think we're fine. I have a friend who can help me get in without dying." Drake said. "I shall take my leave then." Brhuce said before climbing his train and teleporting away.

"Of course he used a train." Owlin mocked. "What happened?!" Immok wondered as he bursts into the room. "Brhuce Hammar, Telvanni mage, headmancer of the Technomancer's Union and C.E.O. of Hammar Industries. He's my biggest admirer to the point where he worships me like a god, to my annoyance." Todd explained. "Anyways, we have a plan for safe passage. Anything else we need?" Daphne asked. "I have a ship and a crew. We also have standard expedition equipment on board. We have animunculi, climbing equipment, quad bikes, and the like." Drake listed.

"What about shelter? The ship's quarters are a little… small as it is." Immok asked. "When my team was tracking the dragon Ahbiilok to Akavir, I took some spores from an emperor parasol and grew it with some soul gems to make a mushroom fort like what Telvanni makes." Nisfar answered. "Those are patented about a few hundred years ago. Telvanni will have our behinds without a license." Todd said. Brhuce teleports in again and throws a metal tube on the table before disappearing again. Owlin opens the tube to find a letter from House Telvanni.

* * *

"The Blades are hereby permitted to build a wizard's tower from 12/20/15 to 2/1/16. The structure bshoube be demolished efore the expiration date or you will be fined $20,000 for unlawful possession." the note read.

* * *

"That was easy." Owlin commented. "What else do we need?" Todd wondered. "We need the finest warriors in the land! Right?" Immok suggested excitedly. "I know where to find some." Todd said. He goes to a button next to Alduin's Wall and it splits apart, revealing an elevator.

"Everyone, get in." Todd instructed. Everyone enters the elevator and they descend as soon as the last person, Daphne, enters. "So… Mr. Howard…" Drake said nervously before being interrupted. "Call me Mister Howard. What is it?" Todd asked. "Is the sixth Elder Scrolls in production at the moment?" Drake asked. "We're still flipping through the books to find anything interesting. We're busy with other projects at the moment." Todd replied.

They arrive in a high-tech underground facility with several scientists and soldiers in Blades armour wandering throught the hallways. "Welcome back, Grand Spymaster Howard, we have not received a clear visual of Akavir from Reman Seven. We mostly detected readings of high levels of magical energy around the continent's lower atmosphere." a female Breton scientist informed Todd. "What do you think is interfering?" Todd asked. "There are high cloud concentrations above the island and they may be enchanted as the satellite's scanners can't get past them." the scientist replied. She walks away as the group continue to a room full of computers in front of a giant central screen.

"This is our reconnaissance room where we monitor people of interest." Todd introduced.

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 3

"Did you steal these from Tamriel Security Agency?" Immok joked. "No, we **are** the Tamriel Security Agency." Todd corrected. "We actually planned to recruit people along for the journey before Mister Slayer's suggestion. We're choosing five subjects starting from Subject One." Todd explained. A giant hologram of Drake in his blue piston-patterned boxers eating cereal appears at the far end of the room as the workers laugh. Drake stares at Todd with a scowl on his face.

"I'm flattered I'm number one." Drake said passive-aggressively. A hologram of live security footage of an Orc sleeping in an apartment appears. "Subject Two: Steve Gro-Fur. He's a black market dealer and we believe he was a vampiric Orc warlock from the Fourth Era. Although as of late he never exhibited vampirism." Todd explained. "What makes you say that?" asked Drake. "You know, walking in daylight, no glowing eyes, the such. We also believe he is the very same Stiv Gro-Fur who created the province we all know as Orsivir, where he is currently residing." answered Todd.

A hologram of an Argonian sitting at a lone desk with a laptop appears next. "Subject Three: Groin-Cruncher. He is a part-time paranormal investigator and full-time mechanic Stormhold Mine. His consorts consist of a lizard man, a centurion, a draugr, and a brown chaurus…" Todd explained before being interrupted. "Try saying that three times, fast… sorry, continue." Immok said. "Like I was saying… his activities have been confirmed by clients and undercover agents investigating him in the pretence of clients with the help of Esbern; a ghost working in the archives." Todd continued. "That team sounds familiar…" commented Sheogorath.

A hologram of a robed Breton working at The Arcanaeum appears. "Subject Four: Richard Gerome. He is the librarian for The Arcanaeum and a direct descendent of the hero Richard the Librarian. He is the former head librarian of a college in High Rock. He isn't much of a fighter like his ancestor, but he is a great strategist, even better than me and the Colonel. He knows a lot about everything, much like Medeliu Hammar, a Telvanni scholar." Todd explained. "Don't drag my dad into this, please." Brhuce, who came out of nowhere, pleaded. A soldier approaches and points an assault rifle at Brhuce. "I think I should go now." Brhuce said.

He teleports out of the room as the soldier lowers her weapon. "And finally, we have Subject Five: Sir Austin Peebington the Fourth; a medical oncologist in Daggerfall who was knighted for helping to find a successful corprus cure alongside Yagrum Bagarn. He is adept in many medicinal techniques, even ones improvised for survival situations." Todd explained. "So, we have a warlock, a healer, a librarian, and an engineer. Sounds like a list of classes from a role-playing game." Drake joked. "And a warrior, don't forget about the warrior." added Immok. "So, that's everybody? Where can we start?" Drake asked.

"Dragon-Bane, you get Durnheviir. Meanwhile me, Sheogorath, and Immok go recruiting the subjects." Todd ordered. "I'd also like to bring some else with us, and I'm not telling who. When you've brought everyone you can head to the Solitude Docks and find the Northern Cardinal II. Also, can I see Esbern?" Drake asked. "No, he is off-limits." Todd answered. They leave the temple and everyone enters Sheogorath's S.U.V. except for Drake and Nisfar. "I'll tell everyone about the job." Nisfar said to Drake before walking away.

Drake takes out his iPear and calls Brhuce. "Do you have a black soul gem?" Drake asked. "Sure do. I'll be over in a few, my helmet is going haywire." Brhuce replied. A few minutes later, Brhuce teleports in the parking lot in his train and exits it. "Now, are we going to the Soul Cairn?" asked Brhuce.

"Yeah, just soul trap me a little, just like in Dawnguard." Drake said enthusiastically. Brhuce casts a soul trap spell on Drake and his soul is carried into the black soul gem. Drake falls on the ground face-flat. "Get a hold of yourself, kid." said Brhuce. He drags Drake into his train and they disappear.

They arrive in the Soul Cairn where the woman is still sitting on a rock, looking at the sky. Hey, why are you still here? Get out!" Brhuce scolded. "I can come here as much as I want and can stay here as long as I want." the woman barked back. "Forget her. We need to get to… Drake?" Brhuce said. Drake is still sleeping in Brhuce's train.

Brhuce then splashes a bucket of water at Drake and he wakes up. "W-what w-was that f-for?" Drake said, shuddering. "We're here. You passed out when I soul trapped you. Wimp. Let's find Durnehviir, wherever he is." Brhuce answered. "He's in that… fort… castle… place… over at the end. You can't miss it." The woman directed. Brhuce promptly gets in his train and zooms towards the horizon on a self-replicating train track under the train.

Meanwhile on Nirn, the group has arrived in Fur, Orsivir; the province of the Orcs made by a warlock, using land from the sea and geo-sculpting magic. They pull up to an apartment in a shady neighbourhood and Todd enters the building. "Welcome to Kurog Heights. How may I help you?" the Orc landlady greeted politely. "Hello, can we see Steve?" Todd asked. "I'm sorry. He just left a few hours ago for work." the landlady apologised.

An elderly Orc with a white knotted beard wearing a grey tank and jogging pants enters the apartment. "Did you want to see me?" the Orc asked. "Are you Steve Gro-Fur?" Todd asked. "Yes, I am. Aren't you Todd Howard, that guy at Bruma Game Studios? And wasn't that Sheogorath's car?" Steve asked. "Yes, we would like to talk to you in private." Todd requested.

"Follow me to my room." Steve said before walking up a stairwell behind the landlady. They walk up the stairs to the tenth floor and into Steve's room; room 10-12.

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

Steve's room was fairly decent for an apartment in a shady neighbourhood; a living room with a two sofas and an old television atop a dresser. "What do you want to discuss?" Steve asked. "We wanted to know if you had any connection with the warlock Stiv Gro-Fur?" Todd asked. "What makes you say that?" Steve asked. "You have a banner with the emblem of Stiv Gro-Fur, an Orc wearing an ancient Nord helmet." Todd answered as he pointed to a dark blue banner on the far side of the room.

"Um… that's just something I got at the… thrift shop… across the street." Steve said nervously. "Yeah… there is no thrift shop across the street, ever." Todd denied. "Fine, you got me. I am Stiv Gro-Fur. I used to be a powerful wizard. I eventually retired from the Dark Brotherhood when the Dragonborn destroyed the last sanctuary in Falkreath. I lived out the rest of my undeath as a vampire until I cured myself twenty-five years ago. I was the one who made Orsivir two-thousand years ago. Eventually I retired permanently, now the average Joe you see before you. Anything else you need of me?" Stiv explained. "The Blades need you for a mission to Akavir." Todd said. "Didn't I say I was retired? The answer is no, I'm not going with you. Now get out of my apartment!" Stiv demanded angrily.

Stiv pushes him outside his apartment and slams the door. "Come to the Northern Cardinal II at the Solitude Docks if you change your mind." Todd said. He leaves the building as Stiv watches from his window. He sits down on a chair and sighs. "Should I?" Stiv wondered.

In Daggerfall, High Rock, the group goes to Peebington Hospital, a specialised hospital in the heart of the city. Todd and Immok enter the hospital approach a female Breton receptionist. "Hello, how may I help you?" asked the receptionist. "Kate, we would like to meet with Doctor Peebington. We need him for… something." Immok requested. "Oh, Mick, it's good to see you, too. But, I'm sorry. Sir is travelling to Wayrest to celebrate Saturalia." Kate said.

A Breton with a heavy beard, wearing an ugly green sweater comes through the sliding doors. "Sweet Mara, I smell adventure!" the Breton breathed in before yelling. "Doctor Peebington, you're back already?" Kate asked. "If Patient Five is around, there's sure to be adventure!" Peebington exclaimed. "Sir, please call me by my actual name: Immok the Slayer." commented Immok.

"Call me Austin. Now… where's adventure?!" Austin asked. "We need to discuss it in private, Sir." Todd said. "Todd Howard's here?! Follow me to my office at the top floor." Austin said. They follow him to an elevator as Austin puts his I.D. card against a scanner before going to the top floor. They go to a door labelled "Sir Dr. Austin Peebington IV" on its glass and enter.

"Now, what kind of adventure we're talkin' 'bout?" Austin asked. "We… are on an adventure to Akavir. We need your help with medicine as you're one of the few who can improvise treatments for unknown illnesses we may contract." Todd explained. "That's it?! I'm just a medic? Can't I do something special?" Peebington asked. "Come on, we're in uncharted territory. You'll never get another chance to go." Immok persuaded. "I guess so… but it better be worth It." Peebington said.

"Great. Get all the stuff you need and travel to Solitude Docks in Skyrim, go to the ship 'Northern Cardinal II'." Todd requested. "Sure, sure, I'll get ready. I'll meet you there." Peebington said. The group re-enters Sheogorath's S.U.V. as Peebington removes an ancient staff from a display in his office. The group arrives in Skyrim again to the College of Winterhold. Todd exits the car and approach the reception in the main building.

"Good afternoon and welcome to the College of Winterhold, how may I help you?" the Altmer receptionist greeted. "We need to speak the main librarian of The Arcanaeum?" Todd requested. "I'm sorry; you can't speak to him without… I have a call from the Arch-Mage. Don't want to keep sir busy." the receptionist said as she put a phone to her ear. "Yes, sir? Sure. Never mind, the Arch-Mage will let you in this time." the receptionist approved. Todd then enters an elevator on the right of the room and ascends.

They ascend until they reach a large library with ancient books. They approach a Breton man at his desk. "Who are you? You're not students I know." the Breton asked. "You're Richard Gerome, right? We gained special access by the Arch-Mage. We need your help with something." Todd said. "Don't look at me, I'm just a librarian." Richard said.

"We are on a trip to Akavir and we need your help with survival strategies, and maybe even battle strategies. You can also gather information about Akavir, too." Todd persuaded. "You're that game guy for Bruma Game Studios. What do you need with battle strategies? I've played Skyrim and the battle A.I. is all like: hey that guy killed a dragon, let's mug him. Or: let's all get an inch close to him and start swinging while he's covered in fire. But still, the idea of going to Akavir is… interesting. I'll give it a go." Richard said. "Ma'iq, take care of the place while I'm gone." Rich commanded a Khajiit assistant who just entered the room. "Yes, sir. You can count on Khajiit." Ma'iq said proudly. "So, you'll come?" Todd asked.

"Well, duh." Richard replied. "Meet us at Solitude Docks at the ship 'Northern Cardinal II'." Todd instructed. "Goodbye, Mister Howard!" Ma'iq said as he leaves in an elevator. Next they travel to Black Marsh and go to a mining camp where an Argonian is repairing a large drill next to a stone statue of a Nord in rags. "Hey, are you Groin-Cruncher?" Todd asked the Argonian.

"Yeah… aren't you Todd Howard from Bruma? Well, whaddya need?" Groin-Cruncher asked.

To be continued…


	5. Chapter 5

"We need your help with an expedition to Akavir and we know about your agency. We can pay you and your… friends, a fortune." Todd said. "If money's on the line, you can count me in. Wait, how you would know about the gang?" Groin-Cruncher asked. "We just know. Meet us at the Solitude Docks in Skyrim, near the ship 'Northern Cardinal II'. We can speak to your boss to get you a few days-off." Todd instructed. "The fat xhuth in his office, jerk won't let anyone leave until they fill their huge quota; a thousand pounds of ore. Glad I'm just the mechanic." Groin-Cruncher said. Todd goes up to a small building at the side of the camp and enters where he is met by an obese Nord.

"Who're you and what do you want?" the Nord in a gruff tone asked. "We need your mechanic, and I ask if you can give him a few days-off." Todd requested. "Sure, but he won't get paid for the amount of days he's gone. I'll also need ten-thousand Septims as compensation." he demanded. "That's crazy, he's just a mechanic!" Todd complained. "Then no vay-cay for him." the Nord said.

Todd snaps his fingers and a Blade in ninja clothing puts a sack over the Nord's head before teleporting away. "That takes care of that." Todd commented. He exits the office and finds Sheogorath and Groin-Cruncher in a spray cheese chugging competition. "And the can is finished!" Groin-Cruncher yelled as he downed the last sprays. "Impossible! I am the champion of all cheese! I wanna rematch!" Sheogorath demanded angrily.

"I got you your days-off. You can come with us if you want. We have an extra seat at the back." Todd suggested. "I'll need my stuff. I'll catch up with you." Groin-Cruncher said. The group get in the S.U.V. and they teleport away again. "Hey, hey, Steven, we've got another job; Akavir." Groin-Cruncher called on his iPear. A purple portal manifests for a steel centurion, a draugr, a lizard man, and a brownish chaurus holding a PearPhone to emerge.

"My blood's calm. I prefer it boiling." the chaurus said in a deep Orc-like voice. "We've been over this a thousand times; you're not supposed to talk, Steven!" Groin-Cruncher scolded. That night at the Solitude Docks, the group finds Austin, Rich, Groin-Cruncher and his team, and Stiv outside the ship. "Stiv, you came?" Todd wondered in confusion. "Yeah, I wanted to go on one last adventure and I'm done." Stiv said.

"We have everyone, we just need to wait for the captain." Todd said. "I can't believe how silent everyone else in this group is for the past two chapters." Sheogorath commented, standing next to Todd. Brhuce's train teleports and Drake crawls out, gasping for air. "Brhuce, can I have my soul now?" Drake asked. Brhuce smashes a black soul gem and Drake's soul returns to him before teleporting away.

"What was that?" Austin wondered in confusion. "Okay, I've got my soul back. Before we go, has anybody seen a new crate come aboard?" Drake asked. Teldryn disembarks the ship and approaches Drake. "Yes, Captain, the new cargo has been carried." Teldryn informed. "Great, prepare the engines." said Drake.

An elderly hunched-back Imperial guard approaches the ship. "Not so fast, boys, I'll have to check if everything's in order." the man said. "Go ahead, Talbot. We aren't hiding anything." Drake said. Talbot goes on the ship with a crowbar and into the cargo hold. He opens crates to see Dwarven scrap metal, food, survival equipment, and Drachen's body near a wall.

"Nothin' unusual here." Talbot said as he closes the crates. He disembarks the ship and hands the crowbar to Drake. "Everything's in order, you're good to go." Talbot said. He leaves, but not before bumping into the lizard man. "Sorry, sir." Talbot apologised.

Everyone boards the ship and they head off. "Let's meet our surprise guest. Everyone, follow Me." Drake announced to the heroes. They enter the cargo hold and Drake opens the crate at the end to reveal Drachen. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my ancestor; Drachen Steel-Heart: the Dragonborn." Drake introduced. "How in Oblivion did the old man not notice that?" Groin-Cruncher wondered.

Drachen wakes up and leaves the crate as Austin points his staff at him. "Back, back, I say!" Austin threatened. Drachen swipes the staff away to the side. Didn't you notice Jerry?" Groin-Cruncher said, pointing at his draugr. "No, I was busy noticing your brother on steroids!" Austin exclaimed.

"One: Racist. Two: he is not my brother. Three: he isn't on steroids… at least I don't think so." Groin-Cruncher rebutted. "I think now everyone should go back upstairs while I talk to grandpa. Does that sound good?" Drake suggested. Everyone, except Drake and Drachen, goes up the stairs back on the deck. "This quest is risky, okay. We need to be careful because you're now more vulnerable to fire, and Tosh Raka is huge, so is his fire breath. We need you as backup when everything goes south." Drake explained. "So I am still the one that's sent into danger and risking my life to stop some evil dragon? Sounds familiar..." Drachen recapped.

"I've known you for months and it's still weird hearing a Draugr speak to me. Basically, yeah, it's the Dragon Crisis all over again, except the lower-ranked dragons are tiger people." Drake said. After a while the ship suddenly stops as Drake was in the middle of talking to Drachen. "Captain, we've… how many draugrs are we keeping?" the Dunmer helmswoman said before noticing Drachen. "Why have we stopped?" Drake asked. "Your roommate pushed me away from the wheel and stopped the ship himself!" Jenny replied.

Drake and Drachen leave the cargo hold to find themselves at Nisfar's island. "We need to stop here to gather building material: emperor parasol spores. Whatever you do, do not attack the cliff racers." Nisfar instructed. He disembarks the ship and walks up to the fort gates.

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

He opens the gates to find mycelium overgrowing, blocking the tower door. "Who is this guy?" Todd wondered as he and the heroes look at the island from the sides of the ship. "I thought you Blades knew everything. He's Nisfar Adlathil, the Nerevarine." Sheogorath explained. "He was so messy when you recruited him for your operation a year ago." Todd said. "That takes me back to my youth. Marvellous times! Butterflies, blood, a Fox and severed head." Sheogorath said.

"We… I know. You wouldn't shut up in the studio telling your life story. Everyone, you may not know this but the Eighth Champion of Cyrodiil never died, he just went and took over an entire plane of Oblivion; he became Sheogorath." Todd explained to the heroes. "Umm… well, I think everyone should introduce each other while we're here. It might take a while to get to Akavir." Drake suggested. "Stiv, you should start first." he picked. "Alright, my name is Stiv Gro-Fur. I was raised by Nords hence my first name, and I never knew my Orc parents. I once killed three kids who bullied me and then ran away. I never knew what real Orcs were like, so I read stories of barbaric warriors pillaging villages, basically terrorizing Tamriel. That was until I met Orcs supportive of the oppressive Empire. I thought that the Orcs needed a leader to rule the Empire and he would be me, so I travelled back to Skyrim to become more powerful, only to be captured by the Empire and sent to Helgen to be executed. Eventually I escaped and joined several organizations including the Dark Brotherhood. Eventually the sanctuary was destroyed and I ran yet again. Sad life, am I right? All that running and you thought I would be tired, you'd be right. I retired to Orsivir and lived the rest of my life there." Stiv explained. "Come on, we want to get to know about you! What's your favourite food? What's the name of your seven exes? Are they evil? Tell us more!" Sheogorath said excitedly. "Yeesh, calm down, this isn't an interrogation." Drake said.

"Let's now stress him any further." Todd assured. "I mean, it's good to know your teammate. You have no idea how many times I've been double-crossed because I didn't ask them about their life story." Groin-Cruncher commented. "Well, at least it's just these guys and not the entirety of Nirn. I not only retired to Orsivir but I was the one who created it with the help of a new spell tome that was gifted to me. I left the throne because people were starting to worship me like a god and it was annoying, so I disappeared and changed my name every few centuries. I name all of my reanimated skeletons Bill, no exceptions. I'm allergic to Falkreath, don't ask but I think it has something to do with the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary there." Stiv explained hurriedly. "This day just gets weirder and weirder." Richard commented as he stared at the Argonian. "My name is Groin-Cruncher and I'm a mechanic from Stormhold. I work for the mining company there. I was just living a boring life fixing drills, drills, and drills. It was like that until I met *POINTS AT TEAM* these guys! I saw them coming out of a dimensional rift and they agreed to team up with me, for some reason. We had crazy adventures involving ghosts and the hillbillies living deep in the Black Marsh, those Agaceph make the worst possible boats in existence. We had a lot of fun helping people and killing the traitors with no mercy. Okay, a little mercy." Groin-Cruncher explained.

The older Nord crewmember kicks down the sleeping quarter doors from the inside in anger. "You, I've been looking for you for a very long time!" he screamed angrily to Groin-Cruncher. "Me? I'm just a mechanic. What do you want from me?" Groin-Cruncher asked. "You almost killed me in Archon six years ago! Now you will pay with your life!" the Nord yelled. "This must be some huge mistake." Groin-Cruncher said worriedly.

The Nord slices the railing of the ship next to Groin-Cruncher with a steel sword before Groin-Cruncher flees. "Get back here!" the Nord yelled as he chased Groin-Cruncher around the ship. "Aren't you guys going to help him?" Richard asked the chaurus. "My blood's calm. I prefer it boiling." the chaurus replied. "Shut up Steven!" Groin-Cruncher scolded, still being pursued.

"While Scales McGee is being chased by a washed-up television star, I'll tell my story. I was born in High Rock, and was raised by a librarian and a cop. One day, my mother, the cop, was killed in a Forsworn suicide bomb attack, so my dad had to raise me alone. I eventually was enrolled in a college, founded by Richard the Librarian, my ancestor. I followed in his footsteps, I even thought for a while I was on the college's watch list for drunken assault on a professor. I eventually settled down in Skyrim and worked as the librarian for the Arcanaeum. Best decision I've ever made. I helped find many lost stories and languages, even rediscover Old Bretic. That's all to it, I guess." Richard explained. "Well, my name is Sir Austin Peebington the Fourth! I was born to a rich family with my dad in the Elder Council. I enrolled in the Daggerfall Medical Academy and learned medicine and stuff. Five years ago, I helped cure corprus with Yagrum Bagarn and we made a lot of money. The end." Austin explained hurriedly. "Hey guys, I'm… why is Groin-Cruncher being chased around the ship by one of your men?" Nisfar wondered as he held a burlap pouch over his shoulder. "No clue. Oh hey, Steve stopped him." Jenny answered as she approached Nisfar before looking at Billy being tackled by a Nord with a buzz cut. "Okay, break it up!" Drake commanded as he approached the two Nords rolling around aggressively.

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

"I-I think we can go now." Nisfar suggested. "We need directions to Akavir or else who knows what happens." Jenny warned. Drachen exits the cargo hold and shouts "Dur Neh Viir!" into the sky. An undead dragon materialises on the ship as everyone looks in awe. "Is that why we brought Drachen on board? Because he already has the shout?" Nisfar wondered.

"Yes, Durnehviir refused to listen to Drake, so we had to ask Drachen to come with us." Brhuce said as he materialised next to Nisfar. "Brhuce, are you coming with us or not? We don't need any more stowaways." Drake asked. Brhuce snaps his fingers and disappears. "What is with that guy?" Sheogorath wondered. "Durnehviir, I followed your instructions. How does it feel to be out here again?" Drake asked.

"The sky feels refreshing. Let me savour this." Durnehviir answered. "Take your time, please. But we need to disembark soon to Akavir." Drake said. "I will try to remember. My memory is not what is used to be." said Durnehviir. "A-a-an actual d-dragon here right in front of me. I never thought I'd see the day I'd be a metre away from a dragon and live. Excuse me m-mister dragon? Can I ask you some questions?" Richard asked nervously. "Yes, but soon we will depart to Akavir." Durnehviir answered.

"Umm, yes, uhh… how are dragons born? They always come up every now and then, hundreds of dragon skeletons everywhere." Richard asked. "We do not reproduce as we are all without gender. We were born when time itself began, born from our father, Akatosh." Durnehviir explained. Rich continued to ask questions until dawn. The next day, everyone wakes up in the sleeping quarters and Billy finds himself chained to his bed. "What's happening!?" Billy yelled angrily.

"We can't risk you hurting our guest Groin-Cruncher. Now, tell me what happened in Archon." Drake demanded, sitting on a chair across Billy's bed. "Basically he came out of nowhere with a giant wrench while looking for a bounty. I got knocked in the head and woke a few hours later finding out that he got my money." Billy explained. "Of course, it's all about the money, money, money. We're still chaining you to the bed until we get to Akavir. We're setting sail soon." Drake said. He goes up to the deck and finds Richard leaning against the railing, sleeping. "Wake up, soldier!" Drake yelled.

Richard wakes up shocked, and almost shoots Drake with a gun, but misses above his right shoulder. "Sweet Talos, man! Where's grandpa and the dragon?" Drake asked. "They were here a while ago. I'm not sure where they are right now." Richard replied nervously. Drachen boards the ship via the steps in Akaviri armour. "Where did you find that?" Drake asked.

"Since I'm dead I don't need to breathe, so I can spend my all the time in the world underwater. I did so and found this set of armour." Drachen replied. "Get Durnheviir, we're setting sail in a few hours." Drake commanded as Stiv boards the ship with a sack over his shoulder. "What did you do?" Drake asked, in a concerned tone. "I found some bones on the bottom of the ocean. I bumped into your old man on the way. Still never forgave him about Volkihar." Stiv said. "I'm right here, you know." Drachen said.

"So, what's with the bones?" Drake asked. "You never know when you need a skeleton army. There's like an entire massacre's worth of bones down there." Stiv replied. The sack rips open and bones flow out just as Groin-Cruncher exits the sleeping quarters. "Hey guys… what's happening? The librarian has a gun, the draugr is wet and so is Stiv. Man, how many Steves are on this boat? And what's with the bones?" Groin-Cruncher wondered. "I'm a necromancer, I raise the dead. In this case, it's skeletons that I call Bill." Stiv answered as he collected the bones and puts them in another sack.

"Has anyone seen Nisfar, the Dunmer that went into the island yesterday?" Drake asked. "I saw him go into his tower just before I dived." replied Drachen. Nisfar exits his tower with Stripes perching on his shoulder and comes aboard. "Good morning, everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Stripes, my cliff racer." greeted Nisfar. "Oh, it's time to introduce our pets already? Okay, *CONJURES TEAM* this is Steven, he's a chaurus. Don't say hi, Steven. This is Snugglesworth, my lizard man. This is Jerry McDraugrberry, of course, he's a draugr. And finally, Captain Platearms, he's a tiny centurion. I'd say he's made of steel." Groin-Cruncher introduced.

"My blood's calm. I prefer it boiling." Steven said. "Steven, shut up." Groin-Cruncher scolded. "Why are you bringing him aboard?" Drake asked in an annoyed tone. "If the Argonian can bring animals, so can everyone else. Even Stiv's making a skeleton." said Nisfar. "Fine, you can bring him. I'll get the engine started." Drake said before walking away.

Drachen conjured Durnheviir before the ship follows him flying eastward. Weeks later, they find themselves on a fogged area of the sea. "How do you even see in this? It's so thick you can… never mind. You get the joke." Sheogorath commented as he stood next to Jenny on the bridge. "I'll just say it anyway. This fog is so thick you could cut it with a knife." Jenny joked. A giant shadow casts on the ship as they hear a loud engine roar.

"Attention unidentified vessel, you are trespassing, turn back or be destroyed." a voice from above warned in Tamriellic before reciting again in an unknown language. A giant laser hits the water from above in front of the ship and slowly moves closer. Sheogorath goes to the front of the ship and pulls a mirror, taller than the length of the ship and wider than its depth, out of his hat. He lowers it into the water and deflects the laser, causing an explosion in the sky.

To be continued…


	8. Chapter 8

Drake runs from the sleeping quarters to find burning debris falling into the ocean. "Sheogorath, what did you do!?" Drake scolded. "I deflected a laser with Split Incorporated Jumbo-sized mirrors, only nineteen-ninety-nine! But wait, there's more!" Sheogorath joked. "Now's not the time for infomercials! What happened?" Drake asked angrily. "I was getting to that. Like I was saying… you can deflect all potential attacks, any size, shape, or type with our one-hundred percent reflect damage and spell enchantment. Basically I blew up something in the sky with a mirror." Sheogorath answered.

Drake spots a piece of debris that appears to be falling toward the ship. The debris crashes on the deck and a hatch on it opens. The two approach the debris and what appears to be a tiger-like Khajiit in a military coat suddenly jumps out. "You will pay for destroying my ship!" the Khajiit threatened in a strange accent. He attacks them with a staff, but they dodge every swing. Drake crouches and grabs his legs before suplexing him, knocking him out.

A few hours later the Khajiit is splashed with water from a bucket, chained to the debris. He sees everyone on the ship surrounding him, with the ship at the shore of Akavir. "I have just one question to ask of you… how come you're speaking in Tamrielic?" Sheogorath asked. "What my friend meant to say is: who are you?" corrected Drake. "I am Captain Mishima Taro, captain of the Ka Po' Tun airship Raka's Pride, which you destroyed, killing most of my crew. Who are you and why are you here?" Taro asked. "*SLAPS FACE* Hey, we're the ones asking questions. I'm not gonna tell you that we're coming to stop Tosh Raka from taking over Tamriel in two weeks!" exclaimed Sheogorath.

"Wow. Way to go, man. You just told him the basics of our plan." Drake said in disappointment. "How could you possibly know about that?" Taro asked. Sheogorath slaps him once more. "Where is Tosh Raka?" Drake asked. "I will not give in to you primates!" Taro yelled.

Sheogorath slaps his face again before crouching down to face him. "Listen, I'm not sure if you've heard of me, but where I'm from, I'm the God of Madness. If you want your brain intact by the time we're finished, then cooperate. Don't believe me? Watch this." Sheogorath said in a more threatening voice with a toned-down accent before putting his hand on Taro's head. The captain's face turns blank, in what appears to be fear until Sheogorath releases him. "Fine! I don't know where Tosh Raka is. He resides in a secret compound somewhere on the island. I am only on patrols around the perimeter of the island so I don't know more than that!" Taro explained. Sheogorath slaps his face again.

"And that's because I felt like it." Sheogorath said to Taro before standing up. "I also scanned his brain. He really doesn't know. Well, we got everything out of this cat. What should we do with him now?" Sheogorath asked Drake. "Billy, toss him overboard… in a barrel." Drake commanded to Billy behind him, who responds with a smirk. Billy slams an open barrel on Taro and carries him away. "What are you doing? Stop!" Taro's voice echoed. Billy throws Taro into the ocean with all his strength.

"The Great Dragon will hear about this!" Taro threatened before splashing. "Now that we got rid of him and landed, we can now set up base." Drake suggested. "You go on ahead, the stuff are in my knapsack. I want to check something out first." Nisfar said. He casts a conjuration spell and he disappears. He arrives in a dark cave with skeletons in Akaviri armour surrounding the cracked pedestal.

He continued forward until he meets the cliff and finds a modern city under a morning sky. He goes closer to the edge but realises the rune is gone and steps back. He casts a levitation spell and glides down to the bottom. He meets the cave floor and puts on his hood to hide the top half of his face upon seeing crowds of Akaviri humans. He walks around the city, seeing signs with strange images and words.

He walks along the sidewalk and is passed by a sleek sports car chased by a futuristic police car, speeding faster than tha blink of an eye. "What was that?" Nisfar wondered. He walks around for a while until he is met by a man in Akaviri armour. "Dark Elf, have you seen this person?" the man asked as he shows Nisfar a detailed drawing of himself. "Why do you ask?" Nisfar asked.

"We believe that he reactivated a gate that has been closed off for thousands of years. The Dragonguard are looking for him under the orders of Spymaster Tyermaillin." the man explained. "Well you found the right guy." Nisfar said as he removes his hood. "Come with me to Dragonguard Temple, the Spymaster would like to meet you." the man said. He whistles and a black car pulls up near them. The man opens the door and gestures entry to Nisfar.

They drive to the centre of the city and eventually arrive at the same temple that Nisfar visited two-thousand years ago; Dragonguard Temple. The man speaks to a doctor as Nisfar looks around the futuristic lobby. "Come with me, the Spymaster is awake." the man said. They enter an elevator to the top floor where they meet an elderly Altmer on a bed hooked up to medical machines. "Grand Spymaster, is that you? I knew you'd come back, everyone said you wouldn't but I believed that you'd return." Tyermaillin said in a raspy voice.

"Y-you're alive! How are you still alive? Most Elves don't last this long." Nisfar asked in surprise. "Nevermind that. How is Tamriel nowadays?" Tyermaillin asked. "It's… strange, all different. They have paper money now." Nisfar replied. "They got it here too. So, why are you here?" Tyermaillin asked.

To be continued…


	9. Chapter 9

"I'm here to look into a possible invasion of Tamriel by Tosh Raka." Nisfar answered. "We already know about that. Tsaesci population is slowly lowering as Ka Po' Tun forces destroy their settlements. The resistance that we are aiding are currently trying to hold off their plan for as long as they could. At the moment, the wrong move could spell disaster to Shin Akavir and Tamriel." Tyermaillin explained. "I brought the Dragonborn with me, so he can probably fight Tosh Raka. We only have about two weeks before they invade Tamriel" Nisfar said. "The Dragonborn is here? There is hope after all. But there is one big problem: Tosh Raka has been estimated to be taller than the collective height of every dragon in existence. Have you a plan for that?" Tyermaillin asked. "Now that I think about it… I do." Nisfar said.

"I hope so, you're the boss after all." Tyermaillin said. "I need to go now. My team is probably finished with our mushroom base. Remember ours before?" Nisfar asked. "You go on now, let's hope this won't end like the last time. I'll catch up with you soon." Tyermaillin said. Nisfar teleports himself out of the room then arrives back to the surface where he sees a giant mushroom tower. "I see the tower went… well." Nisfar said as he sees Groin-Cruncher running around, covered in fire.

He jumps into the ocean and sighs in relief. "What happened now?" Nisfar asked in concern. "I swear the stove was faulty when I saw it!" Groin-Cruncher replied. Drake and Sheogorath exit the tower to meet Nisfar. "You're back. What were you doing?" Drake asked.

"I was going to the city where the Akavir were living. I was surprised as you were when I heard the news." Nisfar said. "They're still alive? I figured they died out when they were breached by the Ka Po' Tun from your story." Sheogorath said. "Nerevarine, you're here. We obviously finished the base, now we just need a plan." Todd informed as he leaned out of a window. "I have one, and I think you'll love It." Nisfar said. Two Dragonguard soldiers and Tyermaillin in a walking harness teleport in front of the tower.

Mushroom-shaped sentry turrets pop out of the stem and aim at the soldiers. "It looks better than before." Tyermaillin commented calmly. "Halt. Please state your intentions in the next five seconds or we will open fire." the turrets threatened in a robotic voice. "Easy now, we're just here to help. My name is Spymaster Tyermaillin of the Dragonguard." Tyermaillin introduced himself. "It's great you're here, but by the looks of it you should be in bed." Nisfar said.

"Defence turrets, deactivate. I'm Todd Howard, current Grand Spymaster of the Blades. Please come inside. Also, please don't shoot the lizard man and the two draugr." Todd greeted. Tyermaillin and the soldiers enter the tower where they see crates of weapons and unfinished animunculi. "Is there a place where we can discuss this?" Tyermaillin asked. "We can probably talk in the kitchen. Are we going to talk with just Blades members or just everyone except for ship crew?" Todd asked. "We need as much help as possible." Tyermaillin said.

They walk upstairs to the upper stalk where they find the male Nord crewmember with a buzzcut cooking at a portable stove and a circular mushroom-like dining table with foldable metal chairs surrounding it. "Steve, where's the rest of the crew?" Drake asked the Nord. "Mr. Sero, Immok and Billy are scouting the area, the nerds are checking on the ship, and meanwhile Jenny's doing whatever she does on the ship. Are these new guests? At least I made extra just in case." Steve answered. "What **is** it exactly?" asked Drake. "It's my specialty; mammoth steak!" Steve replied excitedly.

"Oh boy, mammoth steak…" Drake said monotonously. "It's not as good as it sounds." Drake whispered to Tyermaillin. They sat down at the table with Tyermaillin's bodyguards standing beside him as Steve sets plates, utensils and cooked slices of mammoth trunk. "Uhh… thanks, Steve. Can you get the others here?" Drake asked. "Sure, hope you enjoy!" Steve said as he climbed downstairs.

"This is not worth the ten points of health. At least it doesn't smell this time. *SNIFFS* I was wrong, **so** wrong!" Drake whispered in disgust. He retches and the dish disintegrates into ash. "If Steve asks, we enjoyed the meal." Drake said as he wipes the ash from the plate out of a window. Just then, the rest of the ship's crew climb upstairs, Drake narrowly running back to his seat in panic. "Hey, you already finished my steak! Now what was it that we needed to discuss?" Steve asked.

"Where's the guests?" Drake asked. "The librarian is observing the local wildlife, the mage is talking to someone named 'Bill' in the cargo hold, the weirdo insists on building a spider and the doctor is sleeping in the quarters. Do I have to drag them up here?" Teldryn asked. "Yes, this is urgent. Careful with 'Bill', I was told that it's a pet skeleton." Drake warned. Teldryn and Billy walk downstairs as Tyermaillin begins to speak. "For starters the forces of the Ka Po' Tun consists of themselves, Tosh Raka and Kamal, the snow demons from the north. They have enslaved the Kamal in recent years and have used them as heavy infantry, which contributed to the Tsaesci fall in power. At the moment rely on a resistance force consisting of Akaviri and rogue Ka Po' Tun for protection. Many years ago a Ka Po' Tun mage somehow took away their immortality which weakened them severely as individuals before being stopped by them. Many attempts to kill Tosh Raka has ended in disaster, many legendary warriors have fallen to him, followed by more and more. We had teams of specialized soldiers who tried to help but failed repeatedly…" Tyermaillin explained before he was interrupted by a howl echoing from outside.

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 10

Groin-Cruncher climbs up hurriedly in fear. "Was that a werewolf? Please don't tell me that was a werewolf!" Groin-Cruncher pleaded. "It could just be normal wolves, right?" said Nisfar. "No, there are no wild canine mammals in Akavir. We bred dogs underground and they look like… short, fluffy, cream-coloured huskies. A werewolf was possibly stowed away on your ship. There were no lycanthrope reports for years." Tyermaillin remarked worriedly as Teldryn and Drachen climbed up to the kitchen. The bodyguards aim their guns at Drachen with fast reflexes.

"Wait, wait, wait! That's my great-times-ten-grandfather, he's also a guest." Drake intervened. "What did you guys see and where's Billy?" Drake asked. "He insisted on fighting the beast and for all we know he might be dead!" Teldryn replied nervously. They hear screaming getting louder until they hear a wall breaking upstairs. A bodyguard investigates the sleeping quarters to find a hole in the wall with Billy lying on top of the debris injured.

"Just five more minutes, mom!" Austin whined tiredly in his sleep. The bodyguard climbs back down to inform Tyermaillin in another language. "Is the long-haired Nord with black eyewear Billy?" Tyermaillin asked. "Is there a doctor in the house? I bet he's just a few inches away from the patient." Sheogorath commented. "Guys, why is there a beat-up former bounty hunter here?" Austin asked from upstairs.

Hours later, Billy wakes up in bed having his heart checked by Austin. "Guys, he's awake!" Austin announced to the crew, standing over Billy in the tower sleeping quarters. "What happened? All I can remember was being thrown towards the tower." Billy groaned tiredly. "Easy there, your back was broken and is still healing. I did my best with what we have, but you still need to rest. There were some large wounds possibly caused by a predatory animal. What did you see before being thrown?" Austin asked. "I dunno, it was all dark and the thing was fast. I'm guessing it was a werewolf and I'm pretty sure I'll turn into one." Billy commented.

"Dude, I'm a doctor. Wouldn't you think that I would check your blood after treating your wounds after you had been allegedly been attacked by an unknown creature? Well… I did. I found foreign pathogens and injected a cure potion into you." Austin said. "What about Richard?" Drake asked. "He'll be fine. He suffered a skull fracture, likely from a coconut, it's not as bad as damage from a rock." Austin explained. Billy looks over to another bed with Richard lying unconscious with his head wrapped in bandages. He suddenly remembers knocking a coconut on a werewolf's head, the image flashing in his mind.

"No, no, anyone could have their skulls cracked." Billy denied in a soft voice. "Hey, the automatons are ready. We can move out to the nearest settlement. Hope this'll make Garvey proud." Groin-Cruncher informed Drake. "Tell me about it. When I did that quest to get back The Castle from the mirelurks, Preston gave me another quest to another settlement. I would blame Todd but he wasn't in charge of specifically creating Preston… probably. Okay I'm done ranting let's go!" commented Drake. The two go downstairs to find a squad of Dwarven spheres lined up. "Spheres, follow me." commanded Groin-Cruncher.

The two mount a quadbike and they head towards the jungle with the spheres following suit. Later they arrive at a fort with walls made out of metal, covered in Akaviri text that the two couldn't read. "Who's there? Is it the Dragonguard?" a Tsaesci guard from a tower asked.

"We were sent here by the Dragonguard for reinforcements. We made some mechanical guards for you. They're not much but they're good enough." Drake replied. "Open the gates!" the guard commanded. The gates open and they enter. "How many more settlements do we need to go to?" Drake asked Groin-Cruncher as they pass Tsaesci villagers staring at them as they drive slowly. "Like, four squads to four settlements." Groin-Cruncher replied.

They meet the same guard from the tower at the barracks and hand him a stack of restoration and alteration spell tomes. "These are for repairing and improving the spheres when needed. The commands are simple: follow me, wait here, take aggressive stance, passive stance and deploy here. You'll get the hang of it." Groin-Cruncher instructed. "Thank you, scaly brother. I will inform the other settlements of your arrival." the guard thanked. "Because there is a chance that we will defeat Tosh Raka and you won't need the spheres, they will return to our homeland once we do so. You'll know when they roll into the sea." Drake informed. They exit the settlement and head further into the jungle.

Meanwhile in Shin Akavir, Todd and Nisfar are walking into a meeting room in Dragonguard Temple where Tyermaillin and other Dragonguard council members are sitting around a ring-shaped table. They take adjacent seats in front of the council. "First off: what's your battle plan so far?" Todd asked. "So far we plan to eliminate their aircrafts first and then capture one to get into the city. Since you have the Dragonborn we can kill Tosh Raka without worrying about him coming back. The real question is how we kill him?" Todd explained. "It has been deduced that his skin is stronger than any mechs we are able to manufacture, so we cannot penetrate his skin. We have been developing a strong poison to kill him, but we can't get close enough to make him ingest It." Tyermaillin explained.

"Maybe we won't have to get close, but as far as possible. We can put the poison in a dart and load it in a sniper rifle. When he opens his mouth we can shoot it there. We just need to lure him somewhere clear enough for a shot." Todd said.

"I hope Jiggy ain't messing up my pad… or checking the fridge corner. I should've brought a book." Sheogorath commented while standing in a corner.

To be continued…


	11. Chapter 11

Meanwhile, Drake and Groin-Cruncher return to the tower at night where Teldryn is standing guard outside. "Welcome back, captain. Billy has recovered, but not Richard, he's still unconscious. The doctor said that he'll be okay soon." Teldryn informed Drake. "Thanks, Teldryn. Has Todd and Nisfar returned yet?" Drake asked. "No, they're staying in Shin Akavir for a while. Also, the Orc is reanimating skeletons on the ship and the rattling is keeping some of us up." Teldryn complained. "What about Sheogorath, is he still here?" asked Drake.

"He went with Todd and Nisfar to Shin Akavir to check the place out. He should be back on the surface in a while." Teldryn replied. Meanwhile in the ship's cargo hold, Stiv is sitting on a crate, surrounded by skeletons of various races. "This is good. I can conjure more than fifteen Bill at a time." Stiv noted to himself. Jenny walks into the room and then turns around upon seeing the skeletons. "Not what I wanted to see at ten o' clock." Jenny said tiredly.

The next day, a giant three-horned turtle the size of a small building, emerges from the jungle, with Sheogorath sititng on its head. "Mock turtles!" Sheogorath exclaimed. "Keep it down. We're already here." the turtle said in a voice resembling that of an elderly man. Sheogorath dismounts the turtle and it shuffles back into the sea. "I'm sorry was that a mock turtle!?" Immok asked in confusion and awe.

"Don't worry readers, this is totally lore-friendly." Sheogorath said, extending a thumbs-up. A barrel washes up on the shore and Taro emerges from it. "I will have my revenge!" he yelled before the turrets emerge from the tower. "Halt. Please state your intentions in the next five seconds or we will open fire." the turrets threatened. Sheogorath pulls a net launcher from his hat and captures Taro.

"Defence turrets, deactivate." Immok commanded as he and Sheogorath carries Taro into the base workshop where Groin-Cruncher was tending to a Dwarven spider. "The tiger-man is back!" Immok announced. Drake climbs down the stairs in a grey tank top and jeans. "You can thank me later." Sheogorath said proudly. "What should we do with him, captain?" Immok asked.

Drake, forgetting his telepathic circlet, looks around and finds a notepad and a pencil.

* * *

"sheogorath where were you?" Drake wrote on the notepad.

* * *

"I tagged along with Nisfar and Todd and it was amazing! I went to the arcades there and danced my pants off at this dancing game, I ate some fried batter balls that apparently had octopus in it, and I was almost run over by a car that was being chased by the police. It was fun!" Sheogorath exclaimed.

* * *

"did you see any cells at the dragonguards base?" Drake wrote.

* * *

"Well, what kind of base **doesn't** have prison cells?" Sheogorath asked.

* * *

"when Todd and Nisfar come back, we should bring Taro down there we can't have him coming back." Drake wrote as Nisfar and Todd teleport outside the base.

* * *

"We're back. We have a plan, but we need to scout the capital to know its strengths and weaknesses." Todd said. "Taro came back. I don't want him bothering us." Drake spelled in sign language. "I can bring Taro to the temple the next time I leave. I have more business there." Todd accepted.

A dragon flies over the base and breathes fire on the mushroom cap roof. It lands and bites one of the turrets off of the stem. Stiv's skeleton army emerges from the sea and forms a tower to try and reach the dragon. It shouts them to pieces and then transforms into a Ka Po' Tun soldier as Todd witnesses the transformation in shock. The soldier enters the workshop and tosses a smoke grenade, blinding everyone while he rescues Taro and flies away with him as the team run outside.

"Did you see that?! It was a Ka Po' Tun! They're turning into dragons! We didn't account for this!" Todd exclaimed worriedly before Nisfar slaps him in the face. "Calm down. We need to check if everyone's okay, especially Richard and Billy." Nisfar reassured. "Woah… cool." Austin said as he looked at the sky. "Doctor, are the patients alright?" Nisfar asked. "Billy fell off his bed and Rich woke up. I guess they're fine." Austin replied.

"I'm going back to Dragonguard Temple to tell them the bad news." Nisfar said as he held a spell in his hand. He teleports away as Stiv walks to the fallen skeletons. "Thirty skeletons but only twenty-nine skulls… I think the big guy tried to bring a trophy. Instead he did us a favour. I can see through the skull's eyeholes and gather information from within this capital I've been hearing so much about." Stiv said. "Can you rebuild the army? We used up animunculi for the Tsaesci settlements." Todd asked. "Now that the bones are still stable I can rebuild them, but I still need to find another skull as a replacement for Bill Number Seven and even more bones for an army. Like what the lads say these days; it's gonna get pretty spoopy." replied Stiv.

Richard walks down the stairs with a walking stick. "What happened?" Richard asked weakly. "A Ka Po' Tun dragon attacked us and took Taro with him." Todd replied. "You mean the Ka Po' Tun has the ability to turn into dragons now? What's your plan so far?" Richard asked. "So far we have a strong poison dart to be loaded in a sniper rifle to kill Tosh Raka. We only have scout reports for the capital from forty years ago. It's likely to be outdated. Now that we can track 'Bill' we can find the capital." Todd explained. "And then what?" Richard asked.

"If anyone needs me, for whatever reason, I'm going for a nice stroll in the jungle." Sheogorath said as he walked away. "Why did we even bring him here in the first place?" Nisfar wondered. "No clue." Todd replied.

To be continued…


	12. Chapter 12

Sheogorath conjures a purple and orange quad bike, transforms his hat into a cycling helmet with goggles, and drives into the jungle. "Oh yeah, here's your telepathic circlet." Richard said as he approached Drake with circlet in hand. Drake equips his circlet and goes back into the tower. Stiv casts a spell on himself and his eyes glow. "I found it! I'm seeing what Bill Number Seven is seeing! I'm seeing Taro speaking to a Ka Po' Tun at a table with a topographical map of what appears to be Tamriel. They changed the map to what looks like Akavir and they leave the room. I couldn't hear anything but I'm guessing they were planning some kind of attack." Stiv described as he looked skywards.

"Now they now know how to turn into dragons we need some more backup for the settlements. Groin-Cruncher, how much metal do we have?" Todd asked. "We have just enough for ten centurions and a spider. I'm already on it." Groin-Cruncher replied. "While you're on that you can repair the turret. I'll join Nisfar in Shin Akavir." Todd instructed before teleporting away. Groin-Cruncher runs to the ship to get Drachen from the cargo hold. "Hey… umm… we need your help with building some centurions… for the settlements." Groin-Cruncher said sheepishly as he slowly approached Drachen sitting on his crate with his head slouched and arms on his knees.

Drachen rises and grabs a large sack and carries it over his shoulder as he walks past Groin-Cruncher. They walk to the tower where Drachen unloads a pile of metal from the bag. "Did you bring all of this without telling me?" Groin-Cruncher asked in surprise as the crew and Stiv are gathered outside the tower. "The crew will stand guard here while I take the others to scout the capital." Drake instructed the crowd. "What others? The Argonian is making robots, the doctor is busy, the librarian is in no shape to do anything and I'm all that's left; the evil necromancer! You're really going with one guy?" Stiv ranted.

"I'll give you my team for now." Groin-Cruncher said as he conjures Steven, Snugglesworth, Jerry and Captain Platearms. "Follow those guys, don't let me down. Don't get too close to them either." Groin-Cruncher commanded them. "An Orc follows to the death." Steven said. "Steven, can you just. Shut. **Up!** You're not an Orc!" Groin-Cruncher scolded. "Actually, just Stiv should be fine. Let's go." Drake said. The two ventures into the jungle and hours later, finds Sheogorath's quad bike crashed into a tree, smoke still rising from the engine.

"What happened here?" Drake wondered. "Hey, guys!" a voice called from the trees. Drake and Stiv look up to find Sheogorath hanging from the ankle by a rope. "What are you doing up there?" Drake asked. "I'm hanging from a rope. What else do you think?" Sheogorath replied sarcastically.

"Seriously, what's with the bike? I thought you said you were on a stroll." Drake asked. " **My** definition of a stroll includes quad bikes. So, as you guessed I was snared by a trap and my bike crashed. Or did I crash my bike and then snared?" Sheogorath pondered. A Tsaesci man with long black hair, wearing a leather hunting vest, and armed with an engraved hunting rifle, emerges from the brush. He speaks in a strange language, possibly commenting about the trap. "Beg your pardon?" Sheogorath asked.

"What are you doing in my trap?" the hunter asked with an Akaviri accent. "Well, I was riding along, then **boom!** I was caught and my bike crashed." Sheogorath explained. "Do you happen to have directions to the Ka Po' Tun capital?" Drake asked. "It is north here. Do not go there unlessssssss you want to die." the hunter warned. "We'll take our chances. Can someone get me down from this?" Sheogorath asked.

Stiv cuts Sheogorath down with a knife and he lands on his feet. "Acrobatics increased! Now let's get going." Sheogorath said. "What about your ride?" Stiv asked. "I'll bring it with me in my hat." Sheogorath said before picking up his quad bike with one hand then stuffing it into his hat. Suddenly a rabbit hops through the clearing from a bush behind Drake.

"There you are!" the hunter yelled as he chased the rabbit. The group goes north until they find a tall stone wall with a metal gate, guarded by two Ka Po' Tun soldiers. "Stay here, I'll search the perimeter." Sheogorath whispered. He appears to makes himself invisible and walks over to the gates. The guards somehow spot him and start shooting at Sheogorath with their assault rifles before the group runs back into the jungle.

"How on Nirn can they see me?" Sheogorath wondered worriedly as he dispelled his cloak. "You made yourself invisible, right?" Drake asked. "Kinda. I can make myselg completely invisible to mortals of my choosing, but immortals can see me. Since the Ka Po' Tun can transform into dragons they are considered immortal. There's no way for me to infiltrate them like this." Sheogorath explained. "Hold on, I have just the thing for the situation." Stiv said. Stiv conjures a Dwarven chest and rummages through it. "I got these a while back were worth the life I took to get them. I got out of a lot of trouble thanks to these. Unlike invisibility spells, these can last until they run out of power, and power they have a lot of. Best part: since they don't use magic they can't be detected by magic scans." Stiv explained, removing a Dremora arm from the chest.

He removes three boxy backpack-like devices made of plastic and metal and equips them on Drake, Sheogorath, and himself. "How do we switch these things on?" Drake asked. "Open the top of the device and there should be a button." Stiv explained. They reach behind them and flip open the top of their backpacks, revealing a large black button and then press them, turning them invisible.

To be continued…


	13. Chapter 13

Meanwhile, Groin-Cruncher was building a squad of centurions with Drachen. "...and that's how I saved Saturalia." Groin-Cruncher said, finishing his story to Drachen. Three Ka Po' Tun dragons land and attack the crew. Drachen points to the dragons and the army of centurions charge towards them. "Here we go!" Groin-Cruncher yelled as he conjures an electrified wrench the size of a tree branch.

He shoots electricity at the dragons as they thrash the centurions like ragdolls. "Go away! Nobody likes you!" Groin-Cruncher yelled as he attacks. In the tower's sleeping quarters, Austin looks through the window nervously before barricading the windows with metal plates and bolts. "Metal; because wooden planks are too cliché!" Austin joked under stress. "What's happening?" Billy asked tiredly.

"Dragons are attacking the base!" Austin yelled nervously. "What do they look like?" Billy asked. "They're orange with black stripes and breathing fire on everyone!" Austin yelled. "They're most likely a subtype of fire-breathing dragons. We have an experimental freeze-ray-thingy in the ship's armoury in case of emergency. It's stronger than most common frost-based spells. Go and get it." Billy instructed. Austin ran out of the tower and to the ship's armoury under the bridge where he finds a glass case containing a bulky hi-tech gun.

He breaks the case with his staff, grabs the gun and leaves the ship. He walks up to an unsuspecting dragon attacking a centurion and freezes it, leaving it immobile. "I.R.L. Cryolator!" Austin yelled in excitement. The centurion shatters the dragon and Drachen absorbs its soul. "I forgot how good it feels to absorb souls!" Drachen yelled, throwing his fists in the air.

Groin-Cruncher's team attacks the other two dragons until Austin freezes the dragons. They shatter both and their souls are absorbed. "They must've been sent to kill us… or just Drake." Teldryn theorized as he exited the base with a sniper rifle over his shoulder. Meanwhile in Shin Akavir, Todd, Stripes and Nisfar are sitting at a table in the cafeteria of Dragonguard Temple. "Can you believe it, the Ka Po' Tun has harnessed the power of dragons. They're immortal, powerful, and they can fly. What other surprises do they have?" Nisfar wondered himself as he eats a bowl of thick noodles in soup with chopsticks.

"According to recovered documents they have some sort of ward projector which blocks solid objects and magical attacks all around the wearer. Are you sure your plan will go into motion?" Todd asked, a plastic box containing an orange fish fillet, rice, and yellow pickles sat in front of him on the table. "Yes." Nisfar said as he fed Stripes a strip of beef from his soup. "What do you think happened to these rat-pirates from Akavir? We haven't seen any beastfolk since we got here besides the mechanic, not even the Tang Mo." Todd wondered. "Who knows, they could have been Akaviri people in costumes or they're really gone. We may never know." Nisfar replied as noodle strands slip from his chopsticks.

A beastfolk with rat-like features approaches them with a dish set of fish fillet served with a bowl of soup and rice. "Is this seat taken?" the rat-person asked in a nasally voice. "Not at all, take a seat." Todd replied. "Thank you, sir." The rat-man thanked as he sat down in front of them. "I'm Don, one of the archivists here. You're from Tamriel, right? What's it like there?" Don asked.

"I guess it's too great to put into words." Todd replied. "From the tales I've heard from the lower levels, I guess it is." Don commented. Meanwhile at the Ka Po' Tun capital walls, the scouting team infiltrated the military district where they see soldiers being injected with some sort of serum in large empty fields and transforming into dragons. "They didn't transform naturally. They just took some drugs and made them super soldiers. Imagine if we can get our hands on this." Sheogorath whispered before Stiv angrily shushes him. They enter a large building at the end of the district where they find themselves in a red-carpeted lobby with a fountain in the centre and orange banner depicting a silhouette of a dragon's head.

They enter double doors opposite the entrance where they find themselves in a large dark room with a large yellow holographic map of Akavir in front of them. Drake looks at the map and finds markers of the mushroom tower, the Tsaesci settlements, and the capital. A simulation shows of a dragon assault team targeting the base and an airship crash at the settlements. "The Blades scientist said something about magical radiation. Where is it coming from?" Drake thought. "We can hear you, you know." Stiv whispered as he recovered a skull from a display case.

A Ka Po' Tun solder enters the room with a rifle and caution. Drake trips the solder and the three flee the district and hides outside the wall. "That was close. We were nearly caught." Sheogorath panted. "We need to get back to the base!" Drake said worriedly. The packs spark and repeatedly transition from visible to invisible until they catch fire.

They throw the packs on the ground and stomp on them until the fire dies. "What in Oblivion just happened?!" Drake wondered in surprise. "I guess repeated use does that." Sheogorath said. "Guys, we should be quiet, the guards are going to notice us." Stiv whispered. Ka Po' Tun guards run up to them and aim their rifles.

A Ka Po' Tun who appears to be the guard captain approaches them. "You must be the ones that Taro mentioned on his report. One of you is the Dragonborn; a mortal with the soul of a dragon. With them gone, our victory will be secured." the captain said. "Run Sheogorath!" Drake yelled before opening fire at the soldiers with a machine pistol, only for them to block with domed wards. Sheogorath then teleports away as Stiv and Drake are captured by a net shot from a launcher.

To be continued…


	14. Chapter 14

As the two are carried away, Drake notices Sheogorath's hat left behind in the bushes. Sheogorath teleports back to the base as the crew are patrolling the area and just when as Nisfar and Todd do. "Drake and Stiv have been captured! It's possible we might be next!" Sheogorath warned the two as he grabbed Todd's collar. "We might be next to being captured." Nisfar said. "Howard. The settlements need our help. They'll be blown up by airship!" Sheogorath warned Todd.

"That puts us at more odds!" Nisfar said worriedly. "Have you seen Tosh Raka yet?" Todd asked. "He's supposed to be the biggest dragon in existence, yet we haven't seen a single scale of him!" Sheogorath responded erratically. Just then, dragons fly over the base and drop soldiers in bulky gunmetal grey armour with helmets resembling the birds-eye view of a dragon's head with glowing yellow eyes. They launch electrifying nets at the retaliating crew as Drachen and Groin-Cruncher run to the ship, while Todd, Nisfar and Sheogorath run into the jungle.

The soldiers break into the base only to find mines and spilled barrels of kerosene. The tower explodes as the captured crew are carried by the dragons. The three soldiers throw grenades into the jungle and a blue light flashes from within. They run into the jungle and find only Todd and Nisfar unconscious, but then Sheogorath runs past them towards the beach and shove them to the ground. He finds the ship missing at the shore and stands in shock as he is caught by an electrified net.

"It's the Point with you!" he screamed as he was electrified. He stumbles backwards and is suddenly teleported in a flash of light. The soldiers start murmur to each other before they hear knocking from the smouldering remains of the base. A trapdoor opens and pushes away debris, with Austin peeking out. "I think it's the wrong time to peek out." Austin said as he sees the soldiers aiming their net launchers at him.

"Hey, I'm a doctor! I have multiple degrees and I'm not afraid to use them!" Austin bluffed nervously. The soldiers lower their weapons with one of them grabbing Austin and handcuffing him. "What are you doing?" Austin asked worriedly. "You are needed for the treatment of Tosh Raka." the soldier replied in a robotic voice. "I know this line is a bit cliché, but I have a very bad feeling about this." Austin said.

Sheogorath wakes up and finds himself inside the Northern Cardinal II's bridge. He walks outside to find himself in the Akulakhan's hangar with the ship in its place, held up by supports and Dwarven workers welding Dwemer metal rocket engines on it. "What just happened?" Sheogorath wondered as Drachen walks up to him from the cargo hold. "You were asleep when I teleported the ship to my ruin. I am modified the ship so it can fly." Drachen explained. "Umm… why?" Sheogorath asked.

"It was part of The Nerevarine's plan. Weren't you with them during discussions?" Drachen asked. "Yeah… I actually wandered around the city of Shin Akavir and I got beat up by three identical Imperial women who were angry at me for some reason." Sheogorath responded. "Why were they angry at you?" Drachen asked. "Something about unleashing monsters a decade ago." Sheogorath responded. "We got the hard end of the plan; flying as close to Tosh Raka as possible. That's always fun." Groin-Cruncher said sarcastically as he rose from a construction lift at the starboard side of the ship.

"I hope you know what you're doing. We have about two weeks before the invasion. I'll get my army ready in the meantime." Sheogorath said before teleporting away. Sheogorath arrives at his palace penthouse balcony where he sees the Shivering Isles in chaos, yet again. "I blame Haskill." Sheogorath commented in disappointment. A Golden Saint Pelaurig approaches Sheogorath. "Welcome back, my lord." the Golden Saint greeted.

"What happened here, Zudeh?" Sheogorath asked in a serious tone. "Heretics are invading the palace as we speak. We've reinforced the building but they managed to find something hard to break it down." Zudeh informed. "Where's Jyggalag?" Sheogorath asked. "He has been captured by Heretics and his paralysed self is currently being used as a living battering ram to break into the Palace." Zudeh answered. "This'll take a while to handle." Sheogorath said as he looked below to see a paralysed Jyggalag being used as a battering ram.

Meanwhile in Akavir, Austin is escorted to a large, hangar-like room with an elderly Ka Po' Tun dressed in regal-looking black-and-red robes lying on a bed in the rough centre. "Are you the doctor?" the Ka Po' Tun asked weakly. "Y-yes, I am." Austin responded nervously. "I am Tosh Raka, The Great Dragon. I have lived for a very, very, long time. In recent decades I have been ill from an unknown disease. The doctors in my humble kingdom have been… inadequate. We will see if you and your Tamriellic practices are useful." Tosh Raka explained. Austin approaches Tosh Raka with his stethoscope.

"Lowered heart rate… wheezing in the lungs. has t-there been anything physically different?" Austin asked. "There are… rashes… all over my body." Tosh Raka replied. "I'll need to take a blood sample." Austin said. He conjures a needle syringe and collects blood from Tosh Raka's forearm and sees the blood coloured black. "Ooh… that doesn't look good." Austin commented. Meanwhile in an underground prison with two floors of cells, heroes are locked in the cells idling in despair.

A teleporter pad sat on one end of the wing and two soldiers escorting Richard and Billy materialise. They lock them up on separate cells on the bottom floor and teleport away. In his cell Stiv stands up from his cot and looks around the outside of the cell before conjuring his Dwarven chest. He removes a circular plasma saw from the chest and cuts the bars of his cell before freeing the others.

To be continued…


	15. Chapter 15

"What are you doing? You're going to be caught!" Teldryn warned as he stepped out of his cell. "After me and Drake were locked up, a hologram of a rat man told us to wait until everyone else have been captured. The, after escaping the cells I should break the floor with a sledgehammer to signal the Dragonguard. Just, stand back." Stiv explained. He removes a sledgehammer from his chest and repeatedly hits the floor outside the cells with it. They hear a faint drilling noise from underneath them. "There almost here, we need to wait first. Where the doctor?" Stiv wondered.

"I overheard they took him to treat Tosh Raka. Apparently he fell ill from something." Richard replied. "We should rescue him!" Immok suggested in concern. "No, we will come back for him later. There's no chance of us getting through an army of dragon-cats, not even with my Bill army." Stiv instructed. "We're not leaving without him! He saved my life, I wish to return the favour!" Immok exclaimed. A drill bursts through the wall and Don, in Dragonguard armour, exits from the side of the machine.

"Hey Grand Spymasters, it's me, Don. I'm here to rescue you!" Don addressed himself to Nisfar and Todd. "We need to hurry, the guards must have heard that." Drake hurried. Immok attempts to run away but is caught by the collar by Stiv. "No." Stiv said as he drags Immok into the drill as the others board. The guards arrive and shoot the drill to no avail as it escapes.

They escape through the tunnel as the drill emits a sonic blast that collapse the tunnel behind them. "It's a good thing you escaped. The Ka Po' Tun executes any unwanted prisoners. Hey, didn't one of the Grand Spymasters say they had a doctor with them?" Don asked. "He was taken to Tosh Raka to treat him. Apparently he'd fallen ill somehow." Richard said. "Hey, you said that Richard is a good strategist, but you're Grand Spymaster. Is there something you aren't telling us?" Drake asked Todd.

"We needed him as a secret weapon. I was the strategist all along. Richard Gerome is a werewolf, as was his ancestors before him all the way to Richard the Librarian." Todd revealed. "So it was you who attacked us that night!" Billy accused Richard, pointing his finger in his face. "Hey, you shot first. It was only fair if I returned the favour." Richard remarked. "You threw me at least thirty feet in the air!" Billy exclaimed. "You knocked my head with a coconut!" Richard responded angrily.

"Enough! Bickering like horkers won't get us anywhere. Do we have a plan to rescue Peebington and kill Tosh Raka?" Drake asked. "Originally, the plan included a gaseous version of the anti-dragon poison and using werewolf Richard to break into the military district. But now Nisfar insists we let them come to Tamriel so that Drachen can kill him, but he didn't tell me how, just that it was a surprise. After that, one of the Dragonborn absorbs his soul for good measure." Todd explained. "I… I think I know what he's gonna do. But I'll keep it a secret, you'll love it." Drake said. They soon arrive at an underground quarry guarded by Dragonguard soldiers. "Are you okay?" Tyermaillin asked as he approached the drill.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine. We need to rescue the doctor from the Ka Po' Tun before we return to Tamriel. He's being used to treat some illness that Tosh raka has. What do you know about this?" Todd asked. "I'm guessing it's Dragon Flu, a disease that wiped out the dragons on Akavir, I never thought Tosh Raka would contract it. It's possible that they captured Ahbiilok, a dragon that Nisfar, me and the other Blades hunted, to somehow treat him and transform their soldiers into dragons. Although it was believed to be extinct we synthesized the poison from the Dragon Flu virus." Tyermaillin explained. "How often do the Akavir utilise necromancy?" Todd asked. "That's a very sudden thing to ask about. It is a very rare occurrence that someone used necromancy in Akavir. Why do you ask?" Tyermaillin asked. "Remember when I told you and the council about a werewolf? Change of plans, we're using skeletons." Todd answered.

"Are you sure? If I calculate correctly, the amount of magicka would be too great for a mortal." Tyermaillin warned. "Heh, a mortal you said? I'm not any mere mortal. Just give me a graveyard, and I'll return you an army." Stiv assured. "Can we go to Shin Akavir now?" Nisfar wondered impatiently. "Of course, Grand Spymaster." Tyermaillin replied. Meanwhile in Ka Po' Tun, Austin hands Tosh Raka a bottle filled with clear liquid.

"Apparently it wasn't just blood rot but a strain of virus creating toxic chemicals that lowers body temperatures, effectively freezing your insides. This _should_ help. Can I go now?" Austin asked nervously. "I will decide your fate once I am cured." Tosh Raka answered as he rose from his bed. He drinks the liquid and hands the empty bottle to Austin. "H-how are you feeling?" Peebington asked nervously. "Get out." Tosh Raka demanded.

"What?" Austin asked. "Get out!" Tosh Raka yelled as his fur transform into scales. Austin is escorted outside the room as Tosh Raka transforms into a humongous orange dragon with black stripes and whiskers, filling the entire space of the room. Austin and the two soldiers ascend an elevator that leads into a war room, the same one Drake, Sheogorath, and Stiv infiltrated. A holographic screen of Tosh Raka's face pops up in front of Austin to his surprise.

"Well done, human. Perhaps after my conquest I shall grant you a place among my elite. For now, enjoy Ka Po' Tun." Tosh Raka thanked Austin as the guards walk away. The screen disappears and Austin notices the airship crash simulation. "That's where the Tsaesci are. I need to escape." he thought to himself stressfully.

To be continued…


	16. Chapter 16

"I need to warn the settlements. But it looks like they're far from the capital. How am I going to get there in time?" Austin wondered as he walked outside the facility. He scans his surroundings before sneaking off to the wall protecting the district and shimmies along the wall to the gate. He sneaks out of the walls and ran further into the jungle until he tripped over Sheogorath's tattered hat. "What's a hat doing here?" he wondered as he held the hat as he sat on the ground. Just then, Sheogorath's quad bike falls out of the hat, to Austin's surprise.

"Well, that's a thing." he said, surprised. An airship flies in the air above him, so he puts on the hat and drives the quadbike in the direction the airship is headed. He arrives at one settlement when the Tsaesci guards spot him. They respond by aiming their rifles at him. "Don't shoot! I'm here to warn you about the Ka Po' Tun! They'll come any minute now and crash their airships on your settlements. Warn everyone!" Austin yelled as the airship neared.

The Tsaesci blare an alarm that was heard for miles as Tsaesci in the settlement retreat into a cave at the edge of a settlement wall. Austin is grabbed by a Tsaesci and carries him into the cave as the evacuation proceeds. A tsaesci collapses the cave as airships start to crash down, blowing up the region and turning it into a burning wasteland. Days later in the Shivering Isles, Sheogorath is driving to the northernmost point in the Shivering Isles to Brellach: the Golden Saints military headquarters. He puts on sunglasses and enters the large military facility to meet with the Golden Saint Pelaurig inside the Hall of Honor.

"Lord Sheogorath, our troops are ready for deployment. We will mobilize at your command." the Pelaurig informed Sheogorath with a bow. "Excellent, Staada. Deploy them to the east coast of Morrowind when ready." Sheogorath commanded. "Why are we wasting our time with these mortals? What have they done to benefit us?" Staada asked. "A mortal saved your behind millennia ago, **remember?!** " Sheograth scolded Staada. "Apologies, my Lord." Staada knelt before Sheogoraath.

Sheogorath turns away from Staada, leaving her worried. He leaves the fort and teleports away in his S.U.V and arrives in Port Telvannis, the capital of House Telvanni in Telvanni Isles, east of Vvardenfell. He enters the large musroom tower of the Telvanni Council House and approaches a Dunmer woman at the reception desk. "Ah, Lord Sheogorath, the Archmagister is expecting you in the council hall." the receptionist informed him. He walks past the receptionist without another word and enters the council hall where a female Dunmer in robes is waiting for him in front of an empty ring-shaped council table in a large empty council room.

"This had better be good." the Archmagister greeted rudely. "Good afternoon to you too, Gertha." Sheogorath greeted. "Get to the point, what do you want?" Gertha asked. "It's not what I want, it's what Tamriel needs. A threat is approaching from Akavir and we need to stop It." Sheogorath answered. "Is this a joke? If it is, it isn't funny." Gertha mocked.

"It's not a joke. This time I'm actually being serious. Tamriel was my home, I still consider it to be that. House Telvanni is the most defensible government organisation in Morrowind, and happens to be situated on the east side; where the invaders will arrive. I only ask of you to prepare your defences and be ready for anything. The main force is dragons…" Sheogorath explained. "Dragons are no match for us. The average time between a dragon being spotted and its confirmed kill is seven minutes. We will not waste our time with dragons." Gertha boasted. "Trust me on this. Roll out your defences and you won't regret it. I've seen what they can do. They're not just dragons but Ka Po' Tun." Sheogorath warned. "Very well, but if this happens to be a hoax, there will be sixteen Princes left." Gertha accepted reluctantly. "Thanks, you won't regret it." Sheogorath thanked as he tapped on his iPear in his pocket.

He leaves the building and finds his army of Saints, Seducers, and tanks outside. "We're ready, Tosh Raka." Sheogorath declared. Meanwhile in Shin Akavir, Stiv and Akaviri mages are reanimating skeletons as soldiers are armouring them in a military hangar. "I don't think I can take this anymore." Stiv yawned. He then falls on the floor face-flat.

The mages roll him over and pour coffee from a drink can into his mouth. He wakes up and jumps back up on his feet as Todd and Nisfar watches from a distance. "Do you think we have enough?" Todd asked Nisfar. "Maybe… but skeletons are known to have the weakest structure of any given magical construct." Nisfar answered. Meanwhile, the crew are resting in a barracks sleeping quarters, idling in boredom.

"We can't just sit around here. There must be something we can do. What say you, captain?" Steve asked Drake, who was lying down on a bed. "Why don't you go around town, get to know the place." Drake suggested. "Can we ask the Dragonguard higher-ups if the need help now? We need action, sir." Jenny asked. " **That's an order!** " Drake barked as he sat up. "Yes, sir!" the crew complied, saluting.

They walk out of the room in a single file, except for Teldryn. "Aren't you going?" Drake asked. "Captain, you've been acting… strange recently. What's wrong?" Teldryn asked as he sat down next to Drake. "I'm just thinking; what if this is my last adventure?" Drake wondered in a sorrowful tone. "We'll find a way. We always do. Compared to the thing with the Akulakhan, this will be a 'piece of cake' as you humans say." Teldryn comforted Drake.

"I guess you're right, Tel. I always knew I can count on you for anything, even emotional problems." Drake said with a smile.

To be continued…


	17. Chapter 17

On the surface, three scouts in hazmat suits with headlamps are teleported to the edge of the explosion site where they find the decimated ruins of the settlements and a handful of barely-working animunculi. One scout found a hole in the ground, barely covered by debris. They climb down the dark hole and find slither trails and a purple-and-orange top hat along the floor. "What a strange _hat_." he said in Akaviri. They venture further down and find light emanating further down.

They follow the path and one scout is tackled by the Tsaesci hunter and strangles him. "Shidak, stop! They're with the _Dragonguard!_ " a nearby female Tsaesci with long black hair and leather armour pleaded to the hunter. The hunter releases the scout and says "I am sorry." in Akaviri, bowing down. "Do you know whose _hat_ is this?" the scout asked. "A human, but not one of you. He warned us about the Ka Po' Tun attack. He saved us all." Shidak said.

"Where is he?" the scout asked. "With the rest of the clan further down in the caves. Follow me." Shidak responded as he cocked his head to the direction of the tunnel. They walk further down and find more light, eventually leading to a small cavern lit by solar lanterns, filled with Tsaesci. "Where is the human?" the scout asked as they walked into the crowd, gaining glances from the Tsaesci. By sheer coincidence, Austin runs into them as he was walking.

"Oh. Hello." Austin said in surprise. "You must be the doctor Grand Spymaster has been talking about. We must take you to Shin Akavir." the scout said in Tamriellic. The scout holds Austin's hand and teleports away, leaving behind the other two scouts. "Let's find the others, shall we?" one scout said. They arrive in a room filled with machines, on a giant circular metal platform glowing blue, catching the attention of Todd, who was conversing with two scientists.

"Doctor Peebington? I thought you were captured?" Todd said in surprise. "Well… I'm not anymore! Good news: I'm back. Bad news: Tosh Raka is battle ready and it's all my fault!" he said with a tone mixing sarcasm, worry, and enthusiasm. "Actually that's part of our plan. Now that you're here, I don't know what we're gonna do about the skeleton army." Todd said. "Aww, you raised an army of the dead for me?" Austin said in a flattered tone. "Just… what happened out there?" Todd asked.

"Well, after I escaped from the bootleg Khajiit, I ran into the jungle and tripped on a hat, when a quad bike fell out of it…" "Wait, a quad bike?" Todd asked in confusion. "Yeah, a quad bike. Anyways I rode it to the nearest settlement and warned them. They activated a really loud siren and evacuated their people into a cave including me.. They went into this cave and… I guess slithered further underground where we hid for… I really don't know. Sometime during the evacuation I heard a loud boom from the surface. In the military compound I saw soldiers being injected with stuff that turned them into dragons." Austin explained. "Sheogorath warned us about that before we were captured by Ka Po' Tun. That means they must have completed that dragon serum and are using their old airships as nuclear bombs due to their obsolescence." Todd deduced.

"What was the plan to get off Akavir?" Austin asked. "We were supposed to get back on the ship, but it was teleported when the dragons attacked." Todd answered. "So… where are the others?" Austin asked. "Everyone but me, Nisfar, Drake, and Teldryn are out on the town, doing stuff. Drake and Teldryn are in the barracks, Groin-Cruncher, Drachen and Sheogorath are missing, and Richard is in the archives researching Shin Akavir. For now, you should be resting. I'll show you to the quarters." Todd said as he guided Austin out of the room. "Wanna go on break?" an Akaviri scientist asked another scientist.

Meanwhile in some part of Shin Akavir, Immok and a pink-haired bearded Akaviri man in his thirties, wearing jeans and a T-shirt depicting a metal spinning top over an explosion, are playing a dancing arcade game as locals cheer them on, while Stiv is sitting alone in a bar across the street with a bottle of beer and a glass in front of him by the bartender. "Why did I agree to do this?" Stiv thought. Billy walks in and sits next to Stiv. "I'll have what he's having." Billy requested to the canine beastfolk bartender. "What are you doing here?" Stiv asked.

"I'm just looking for a place to drink. I can't stand loud noises. I remember going to Orsinium looking for some con man. It was unbelievably loud and obnoxious, just like you Orcs… no offense." Billy explained. "None taken." Stiv said as he sipped his beer. Immok runs into the bar with an enthusiastic look on his face. "Hey guys…!" he said before Stiv puts his finger to Immok's lips, quieting him. "Quiet down, kid. What is it?" "First: I totally busted this one pink-haired guy in some dancing game! Second: the Dragonguard found the doctor!" Immok informed them enthusiastically.

"That gets us closer to getting home. The next problem to figure out is how we're getting home since the ship disappeared according to that one report." Billy said as he takes a sip of beer straight from the bottle. The bartender gives Stiv a receipt of 1000 Akavir money. Stiv takes out his wallet and pays for the beer. "Where did you get money from?" Billy wondered. "It's amazing how fast the black market goes in New Akavir as long as you got the good stuff. Forget you ever heard this." Stiv threatened.

Later at Dragonguard Temple, Stiv and the crew return as Austin approaches them. "Hey, guys! Didja miss me?" Austin greeted, outstretching his arms. "Doc!" Immok said as he ran towards Austin and hugs him, really hard.

To be continued…


	18. Chapter 18

"*GRUNTS* Good to see you, too." Austin said in a strained voice before being released. "How did you get here?" Immok asked. "On the surface, an airship crashed and blew up the settlements. I warned the people and fled underground with them. I was found by some hazmat guy the Dragonguard sent and got teleported here." Austin explained. "An airship?" Billy wondered. "Yeah. Those dragons that attacked us? They were Ka Po' Tun that transformed into dragons like their leader." Austin explained.

"We were told that you were treating Tosh Raka. What happened?" Billy asked. "Yeah… about that. He's hunky-dory thanks to me. Sorry." Austin explained in a worried tone. "It's fine. It's all part of the Nerevarine's crazy plan. We just need a way back home." Billy said. Just then, the Northern Cardinal II teleports above them, floating in the air thanks to its new engines. A long rope is thrown off the side and Groin-Cruncher slides down it, wearing protective gloves.

"Hello everyone, baby farts here!" Groin-Cruncher introduced himself. Todd, Drake, Teldryn, and Richard run out of the temple to see the ship floating above them. "What happened to my ship?!" Drake asked Groin-Cruncher furiously. "Hey, guys! I fixed it up for you. Now it can teleport and fly!" Groin-Cruncher answered. "Where's grandpa?!" Drake asked worriedly.

"He's busy. I'm here to bring you all back." Groin-Cruncher answered. "Well it's about time. Everyone, gather your things. It's time we go home." Teldryn instructed. Meanwhile in eastern Morrowind, tanks and jets in the form of mechanical dragons are mobilising along the coast as Sheogorath, Brhuce and Gertha oversee the army from a wizard's tower. "How sure are you that this invasion will come?" Gertha asked Brhuce. "Very. I trust Sheogorath on this one despite our last interaction. When he's serious he's actually serious. I'll give him five days, tops." Brhuce answered as Sheogorath looks through the window with a stern look.

About a week later, the Northern Cardinal II teleports above the dock of Sadrith Mora and splashes down into the water. Richard exits the sleeping quarters dizzily. "I am never boarding a ship ever again." He said as he approaches the edge of the ship. He falls down into the water and swims to a nearby ladder on the pier. Immok places the boarding steps on the ship and everyone exits.

"It's good to be back in Morrowind. So, what do we do now?" Drake asked Nisfar. "We should meet up with Sheogorath and the Telvanni Archmagister who are preparing their armies." Nisfar answered. "What about grandpa?" Drake asked. "He'll be fine. He's preparing the last steps to the plan." Nisfar assured him. A Telvanni jeep drives to the dock and two soldiers approaches the ship.

"Is this the Northern Cardinal II?" one soldier asked Drake. "Yes, this is my ship." Drake replied. "Archmagister Gertha, Magister Brhuce and… *GRUNTS IN DISCOMFORT* **Lord** Sheogorath requests you and Mr. Howard's immediate presence." announced the soldier. "No point standing here, let's go." said Todd as he approaches the soldiers. They get into the jeep and drive away.

"We have been informed that you have been… away… for the past month. What was it like in Akavir?" the driver asked. "Oh you should have seen the underground city. Imagine the underground Dwemer cities, but in chrome!" Drake said enthusiastically. "Okay, I'm impressed." the driver said. They eventually get to the tower where Sheogorath is waiting. Drake and Todd get off the jeep and walk to the tower as they see amber-constructed tanks rolling out of portals from the Shivering Isles and the dragon jets circling the sky like vultures. "I've always wanted to see these jets up close. I've only seen them in a Skyrim mod. Man, I can't wait for the new G.E.C.K." Drake commented in amusement.

They enter the tower and use the levitation elevator to the top where Sheogorath is just in front of them. "How was Akavir?" Sheogorath asked. "What? You're not going to say 'hi' after not seeing us for two weeks?" Drake asked. "We're at war here. The fate of Tamriel once again rests on the Nerevarine, the Champion of Cyrodiil and the Dragonborn." Sheogorath said. "What do we have at our disposal?" Todd asked. "We have Hammar Industries Dovah Jets and my Ambertanks. Anti-ice centurions are on their way from New Nchuand-Zel. I've ordered mirror-plating modifications for the tanks and dragons from Split Inc." Sheogorath listed.

"What did you call us for?" asked Drake. "Sheogorath told us you have a plan to defeat Tosh Raka. Can you tell us?" asked Gertha. "That wasn't me. That was the other Grand Spymaster, Nisfar Adlathil, who planned. I assume Sheogorath told you about the plan, but left out the final part?" Todd asked. "Yeah, Drachen knows the last part, but won't tell me! I thought you'd know, considering you're also a Grand Spymaster." Sheogorath said. "The Akaviri Dragonguard said they would soon send us a few gallons of anti-dragon poison they have been making, so at least we have a backup if things go south." Drake added.

"We've only got about two days left until they arrive. That's enough time to wait for the centurions." said Brhuce. "So… what do we do in the meantime?" Sheogorath asked. "Well,the most sensible thing to do is prepare for the attack, so I'm gonna go back to my ship and do some stuff." Drake said as he walks backwards into the elevator. A thud is heard as he hits the ground. "I'm okay!" Drake yelled from below the shaft.

"Is he okay? He acts like me on a Morndas." Sheogorath wondered. "The teleporter must have disoriented him on the way back. How long until the arrival of the mirror plating?" Todd asked. "Well, they were supposed to come together with the tanks but someone dropped a load of sand into the sea, so we still have to wait a while. Just don't be surprised if an entire beach disappears overnight." Sheogorath explained.

To be continued…


	19. Chapter 19

Meanwhile in the Ka Po' Tun Capital, armoured Ka Po' Tun dragons line up on a runway as Tosh Raka gives a speech in Ka Po' Tun form with a microphone. "For years we have been at conflict with the Tsaesci, and we have now succeeded. We have completed our first step to dominate _Nirn_ , now we will scatter our forces to the west to overthrow the _Tamriel Empire_ once more! With our new power, we are able to bring fear to our enemies, bring destruction and grant us immortality! Today is the day that the Ka Po' Tun will rise victorious!" Tosh Raka's voice boomed from speakers lining the runway in Akaviri. The dragons roar in celebration as Tosh Raka changes before their very eyes. His clothes rip apart as muscle grow, scales shine, and wings sprout from his arms. He flies before the soldiers as airships take off, carrying Kamal slave soldiers within.

On Morrowind, A taxi arrives at the docks where Richard and Austin are waiting with their luggage. "See you everyone! I can't say I'll forget this. Good luck with saving Tamriel!" Richard waved to the crew as he put his luggage in the trunk. Austin enters the taxi before Richard. The taxi drives away as Rich wiped his brow. "If I get dragged into another adventure it'll be too soon." Richard thought.

Back at the ship, Stiv is sitting in the mess hall as Teldryn walks in. "I thought you were going with them." said Teldryn. "I wanna see this thing through, even if it kills me." Stiv said. "You're seriously going to risk your neck out here? In two days, this place is going to be a warzone!" Teldryn scolded. "Yes. It's been a while since I've seen this action at this scale." Stiv said.

Drake arrives at the ship from a jeep and walks to the engine room where Drachen is diagnosing a machine made of Dwarven metal. "How's it going, gramps?" Drake asked. "The engine's lookin' fine. You don't have to go somewhere and find something in a dungeon, don't worry." Groin-Cruncher joked. Drake hears something being conjured inside the cargo hold.

"What was that?" Drake wondered. "Sounds like something being conjured. Tell me if it's Steven, he likes to move around, especially on stairs." Groin-Cruncher commented. Drake runs into the cargo hold where a large silver cargo container with the Dragonguard insignia is crackling with blue energy. "This must be from the Dragonguard. It must be the poison." Drake commented. He attempts to open it with a crowbar but is then electrified, and then collapses to the ground.

"Password, please." a robotic voice requested. "Whose idea was this?" Drake wondered. The container suddenly pops open as Steven, the chaurus, climbs out. "Well whaddya know…" Drake said in surprise as he approached Steven. He looks into the crate to find barrels of poison, marked with the appropriate warning labels.

"What were you doing inside there?" Drake wondered as Steven crawls up the stairs to the upper deck. "My blood's calm. I prefer it boiling." Steven said. "Sweet Sithis, Steven!" Groin-Cruncher scolded from the engine room on the other end of the ship. Two days later at the tower, a purple military semi-truck teleports in front of the tower. Sheogorath and several Telvanni soldiers approaches the truck as a Dark Seducer exits the cab.

"The armour plates are ready as you wished, Milord." the Dark Seducer announced. "Thank you. Get the engies from the mobile hangar over there to get these things on the amber tanks." Sheogorath instructed. "Yes, Milord." the Dark Seducer bowed. She re-enters the truck and drives towards a hangar on large treads to the north. A yellow hologram of a Telvanni scout is suddenly projected behind Sheogorath.

"Mister Olo…" the scout greeted. "Oh sweet baby Tiber!" Sheograth exclaimed in surprise as he kicks the hologram, for his foot to pass through. "I'm sorry to scare you, sir. We have spotted foreign airships and orange dragons approaching from the east, a few hundred clicks from here. The dragons are faster than your ordinary dragon. We haven't seen any Solitude-sized dragon yet. It's possible he is further behind the others." the scout informed. "Oh, thank you. You can get you and your glorified binoculars out of here." Sheogorath said. The hologram disappears as a Dwarven spider modified with four drone rotors zooms behind Sheogorath.

"Sheogorath…" the spider greeted in Teldryn's voice. Sheogorath screams and narrowly hits it with a baseball bat. "Relax! It's just me, Teldryn." the spider assured. "Sorry about that. I've already had enough surprises today, seeing as almost the entire Cloudrest beaches on Summerset disappeared on the news, a holographic nerd telling me that our fuzzy friends are almost here and then a certain flying spider almost gave me a haircut!" Sheogorath said, annoyed. "Anyway, we got everything ready for battle; the ship is armed, and the barrels have arrived via teleportation from Akavir. You mentioned on the way you had an additional plan?" Teldryn asked.

"Yes, I'll need Tosh Raka's soul after all this. Don't ask. I've already borrowed Azura's Star from… well… Azura! Give the Star and this note to Dragon Boy, his eyes only." Sheogorath instructed as he held out a large star-shaped soul gem and a sealed letter. The spider grabs the Star with its six legs and clamps the envelope to its claws before flying away into the horizon. Sheogorath looks blankly at the spider as a fireball is thrown near him. He looks behind him to see the Ka Po' Tun army has arrived and have started attacking the troops.

"Sweet mother of Hjalti!" Sheogorath swore as he ran far away as possible from the dragons. A military semi-truck swerves along the road as Sheogorath runs in front of it. The driver loses control and rolls out. The trailer opens up and reveals bone-coloured battle mechs akin to centurions. The Telvanni soldiers mount themselves in the mechs and rushes toward the beach.

To be continued…


	20. Chapter 20

Airships drop Kamal soldiers in mid-air, slamming their ebony hammers against the ground as they landed, causing a shockwave that staggers the mechs. The Dovah Jets sprays bullets from their maw at the opposing dragons, with no avail as the bullets bounce off the ward fields mounted on the dragons. Meanwhile on the Northern Cardinal II, the spider lands near Teldryn on the bridge, wearing a controller around his neck. He picks up the Star and the envelope as the spider's rotor slows. He runs to the engine room where Drake is assisting his ancestor with the modified engine.

"Sir, Sheogorath sent you Azura's Star and a letter, for your eyes only." announced Teldryn. Drake takes the Star and the envelope as Teldryn returns the spider to Drachen. Drake opens the envelope and reads the letter.

* * *

"Dear Drake,

When you kill Tosh Raka you'll need to transfer his soul into Azura's Star that came with this letter. The reason why all those people escaped from Oblivion is because Martin Septim in the statue is growing weaker by the century. Just ask your old prune how to do it.

From, Sheogorath" read the note.

* * *

"Gramps, do you know anything about putting dragon souls into soul gems?" Drake asked.

"Many years ago, I transferred a dragon soul into gem to activate the time door. Hold the gem, and think of a dragon soul moving into it." Drachen explained. "It's that simple?" asked Drake. "Simple: yes. Easy: no. Considering that Tosh Raka is very big Dragon, it may be hard to contain it yourself." Drachen added. "I'm probably gonna explode, aren't I?" Drake joked.

They hear a loud crash near the ship and go back up to the deck to investigate. They see a squad of Kamal on the pier, scaring the citizens and fishermen. Drachen raises his hand and modified Dwarven ballistae are conjured, shooting the Kamal with exploding bolts. "Now go!" Drachen commanded Drake. He goes to the bridge and pulls a lever near the wheel.

The window projects a holographic screen with a topographical map of the area, a speedometer, height from sea level and other information. Drake presses a holographic button on the screen reading "GO" and the ship starts taking off vertically. He goes to the wheel and steers south into the mainland, away from the Kamal, at an uncomfortably fast speed. "Captain, what are you doing?!" Jenny shouted as she climbed into the bridge. "We're taking off!" Drake yelled.

Nisfar and Todd come up to the bridge, shoving Jenny out of their way. "Give me that!" Todd demanded as he pushed Drake away from the wheel and stabilizes the ship by holding the wheel still, leaving the ship in mid-air and away from Ka Po' Tun forces. "Helmsman, you handle this. We'll be on standby with the barrels. Sit the ship right here." Todd commanded Jenny.

Nisfar and Todd exit the bridge as Drake tries to get himself up. Meanwhile on the ground, Telvanni forces are pushing back the Ka Po' Tun forces, still along the coast. Brhuce and Gertha successfully evacuate the tower and were escorted via military convoy, while Sheogorath is hiding inside the truck's overturned trailer, armed with a shotgun surrounded by random items, including cheese. "This is humiliating. I should have stayed on the ship. At least I'll be safe" thought Sheogorath. He hears metal being ripped above him as a ray of light shines into the trailer.

"…and I jinxed myself." he said in disappointment. He aims his shotgun at the shadow above him; a Ka Po' Tun dragon. He shoots glowing purple pellets at the dragon, but instead bounces off its ward, hitting the trailer and transforming it into a swarm of butterflies that fly towards the dragon's face. Sheogorath's magically transforms his shotgun into a spiked club and runs into the ward, successfully passing through. He hits the dragon's neck repeatedly until the dragon incinerates the swarm and focuses its eyes on Sheogorath.

Sheogorath climbs onto the snout and repeatedly hit the dragon between the eyes until it turns into a white rabbit, leaving the ward generator behind. The rabbit hops away as Sheogorath approaches the generator. "That backpack is almost as big as my bed! How in Nirn can we disable them at once?" Sheogorath wondered. "By disabling the energy transmitter from the airships." a feminine voice said from nowhere. "Who said that? Is it you, Dagon? I thought you were in your room, crying lava!" Sheogorath accused hysterically.

"Down here." the voice said. Sheogorath looks down at the rabbit. "I apologize for scaring you, I needed our meeting to look convincing to the others. I'm Saki, messenger of the Resistance against Tosh Raka." the rabbit introduced herself. "What are you messaging?" Sheogorath asked. "We will take care of the other soldiers. You just stay out of the way. Also, how long does this spell last?" Saki asked. "Oh, shouldn't be too long now." Sheogorath answered.

"When I revert to my dragon form, I will throw you around to convince the others that I am on their side. Deal?" Saki proposed. "If I'm legit injured I will sue you." Sheogorath agreed. Saki transforms back into a dragon and bites Sheogorath on the head, flailing him around. She throws Sheogorath at a mech, causing it to fall down on impact. Saki picks up his ward generator and flies away.

The Northern Cardinal II has been floating above the beach for some time as the crew fend off dragons attacking them. "When is gramps coming back? He needs to hurry." Drake wondered, leaning against a wall in the bridge. "I'm picking up something from the radar!" Jenny informed. Drake walks down to the deck and finds a shadow the size of a small city within the clouds over the coast. "There he is!" Drake yelled to the crew, pointing at the shadow. As the shadow flies closer, it reveals miles and miles of orange and black scales on a whiskered dragon.

To be continued…


	21. Chapter 21

"Where's gramps?" Drake wondered worriedly, pacing in circles. "Me and Brhuce are almost ready we should be here soon." Drachen's hologram projected from the spider drone. "Just hurry!" Drake rushed stressfully. As Tosh Raka crashed his claws into the sea, a pillar of light appears before him before revealing the Akulakhan. "Oh… my… god." Drake said in awe at the machine.

Inside the machine, Brhuce and Drachen are standing on two different platforms, surrounded by holograms and the screen in front of them displaying an image of Tosh Raka. "Unlike the first time, I'm recording this. We better look good." Brhuce said to Drachen. Simultaneously, they activate the controls and synchronise their movements. Before they can even fight the dragon pounces on them, creating a tidal wave towards the coast.

Tosh Raka claws at the Akulakhan's face, but the machine fires a laser from its forehead and pushes the beast back. They get back up and transform its hands into hammers. "It's time to go… off the rails!" Brhuce exclaimed through speakers on the Akulakhan. The crew watches over the fight in awe. "As much as I want to go closer, let's back off a little." Drake instructed Jenny over a walkie-talkie.

"Roger that." Jenny confirmed. "What's happening here?" Nisfar wondered as he ran towards Drake. "That old piece of jerky and Brhuce are fighting Tosh Raka! It's just like Padomaic Rim!" Immok said excitedly as he ran up to them. "I hope whatever Sheogorath needs he Star for is a good cause." Drake commented. Meanwhile in the ocean, the Akulakhan is smacking Tosh Raka with its hammers.

Tosh Raka whips his tail at the head and leaves a deep scratch on the eyes. "Hull breach is imminent! Activate the shields!" Brhuce commanded the Akulakhan's computer. The machine is encased in blue light as Tosh Raka was about to breathe fire once more. The Akulakhan throws a right hook at Tosh Raka and shoves him to the side. The dragon stops and turns towards the machine. The Akulakhan then transforms its hammers into flaming axes and charges.

Meanwhile, a Ka Po' Tun dragon flies past an airship, leaving behind a Ka Po' Tun with an eyepatch and military fatigues. He walks into the airship sneakily and enters upper catwalk of the main chamber of the gondola; a large generator surging with electricity encased in a glass box, guarded by two Kamal slaves. He jumps down, gaining the attention of the Kamal. "I'll give you two choices: move aside, or face me." the Ka Po' Tun said in Akaviri. One Kamal slams his ebony hammer where the Ka Po' Tun was standing, but he rolls away to safety.

"Thanks for the assistance." the Ka Po' Tun said confidently as he showed the two a shard of ebony metal from the hammer. He takes out a small metal dragon head from a pocket on his right leg and puts it to his waist, its head facing left. A belt strap wraps around him from the head and it screams " **Forge!** " in a robotic voice as its eyes light up in orange. He puts the shard into a small metal tube, opens the lower jaw of the head and inserts the tube before closing. " **Ebony!** " the head announced.

The Ka Po' Tun yelled tilts the head downwards for large quantities of molten metal to flow from the mouth of the head and cools down into a large slab of metal covering his feet. "Henshin!" he yelled as he clapped his hands above his head. The slab beaks in two and rises upwards, crushing the Ka Po' Tun between it before crumbling away, revealing armour similar to that of the Ka Po' Tun heavy soldiers, but in black. He charges towards the Kamal, one of them swinging their hammer horizontally at the Ka Po' Tun. He jumps onto the Kamal's arm and runs to his shoulder where he sees a metal collar on his neck. He raises his right hand as his belt announces "Cutter!" for his hand to melt into molten metal before reforming into large plier claws.

He grabs the collar and crushes it before jumping to the other Kamal. The Kamal smacks him away with his hammer and crashes into a wall. The freed Kamal tackles the other against the wall before yelling "Go!" to the Ka Po' Tun. " **Gun!** " the belt announced, the pliers transforming into an arm cannon. He fires a small red-hot cannon ball towards the generator and explodes.

Outside, the dragons' ward generators flicker on and off before deactivating, rendering them susceptible to harm. At sea, Tosh Raka's left part of his face is ripped away, both parties at a standstill. "We're on low energy!" Brhuce announced. "What about the thrusters?" Drachen asked. "Well… all right then!" Brhuce said as he and Drachen run towards Tosh Raka and grab him.

The feet of the Akulakhan start to steam as they fly into the sky. As they fly into the atmosphere, Tosh Raka starts burning up the higher they go. Above the atmosphere the thrusters die out and the two fall back down. "Shields!" Brhuce commanded for the Akulakhan's shields to activate. On the surface, the Northern Cardinal II crew including Todd, Stiv, and Nisfar look at the two burning figures falling from the sky. They crash into the sea and the Akulakhan stands up with scorch marks covering it as Tosh Raka's skeleton burns.

Tosh Raka's soul emerges, but then reforms into a spectral dragon that roars into the sky. A bright light flickers in the sky as the two giants look at it. They see a white armoured figure surrounded by ten ghosts, all doing a dropkick as they fall towards the dragon. "Requiescat… in… pace!" a voice boomed from the armoured warrior. They hit the dragon and break it apart as its soul flows into the ocean.

As the crew looks at the sea, the white knight teleports in front of Drake, to his surprise.

To be continued…


	22. Chapter 22

The warrior wore a long white cloak helmet with a white flat upside-down isosceles triangle faceplate with two black triangular eyes below a headband with a triangle jutting above it. He hands Drake a flat triangular soul gem before teleporting away. A Ka Po' Tun dragon flies in front of Drake and Sheogorath hops off, walking towards Drake. "The Star?" Sheogorath requested. Drake looks at the triangular soul gem before handing it and the White Star to Sheogorath.

"What's this?" Sheogorath wondered. He squint his eyes and looks at the soul gem to see Tosh Raka clawing behind the surface. "Some knight gave it to me before teleporting away." Drake said. "Well, thanks anyways." Sheogorath said. He snaps his fingers and teleports away.

They fly back to the docks and disembark where an Imperial man wearing a black suit-and-tie with the Blades pin on his lapel. "Grand Spymaster Howard, news helicopters managed to get past us. I don't know how but they did." The man informed Todd. "Don't worry. It's about time the people knew the truth for once." Todd reassured him. "I think we should split before they see you." Drake suggested. "It's for the best. I'll send some of my men to help take care of the rest." Todd said.

They walk back to the ship and teleport away before the news crews could get to them. They teleport back to Solitude Docks as Talbot slept in a guard booth. They all disembark the ship, dizzily. After a while they settle down as Stiv walks up to Todd at the top of the hill. "My payment?" Stiv demanded.

"You'll find that we have transferred a fine amount to your bank account. Let's hope we don't cross paths again." Todd warned. "We better not." Stiv said. Groin-Cruncher is the next to speak to him. Before he could say a word, Todd says "We've paid your usual fee, along with some extra as a hazard fee and expenses. I'll arrange a private flight for the both of you.", as he looked at his phone. "Thanks?" Groin-Cruncher thanked in confusion.

Later at a bar in Solitude, the crew and Nisfar sits around a table and watches the news of the battle in Vvardenfell. "…It has also been rumoured the Dragonborn has participated, judging from the enormous dragon skeleton floating in the Padomaic Ocean…" the Nord newscaster announced. "That's what, the twentieth time we're on the news?" Drake wondered. Todd then joins them at the table. "May I?" Todd gestured to an empty chair. "Sure, take a seat. Hey Stan, another one here!" Drake ordered the bartender.

"I was looking for you. You're the last in my ledger." Todd said as he gives Drake a check of five-million Septims. "Thanks. I don't suppose you could give me a Fallout 4 Season Pass?" Drake requested. "Make that two!" Immok interrupted excitedly. "Don't count on it." Todd replied. Stan, an Imperial bartender approaches them with a mug and a can of mead on a tray.

He places the cup and mead on the table and Todd pours mead into the mug. "Here's to our greatest adventure yet!" Drake celebrated as he held his cup in the air. An armoured Dragonguard soldier approaches Todd in full armour and whispers into his ear. "Okay, thank you. I need to go, guys. I'll see you at E3." Todd said as he and the Dragonguard soldier leave as Stan stares in disbelief. "That was… unusual." he said as he cleaned a mug.

A few days later at the Temple of the One in Cyrodiil, Sheogorath enters the building and is met with an elderly Imperial robed priest. "Sheogorath, how may I be of service tonight?" he asked sarcastically with an annoyed tone. He takes the soul gem from his pocket and shows it to the priest. "You… you actually found it. You may enter." The priest said in surprise. Sheogorath enters the temple and approaches a large dragon statue; the remains of Martin Septim.

"Hey, buddy. It's me again. I have another present for you." Sheogorath said to the dragon statue. He presses the gem against the statue's chest and it begins to be absorbed into the stone. He walks away from the statue when he suddenly heard a ghostly "Hello," coming from behind him. He turns around and sees an apparition of the former Emperoror, Martin Septim; a young man in emperor's clothing. "It's good to see you too, Emperor Martin Septim." Sheogorath said.

"So this is what you have become?" Martin asked as his voice echoed in the room. "Quite ironic that we defeated a Daedric Prince and I became one myself. I didn't become one for the power; I became one for the people of the Isles. I hope you'll forgive Me." said Sheogorath. "The reason you go back and forth from there to here is because of me. Just… don't cause another Oblivion Crisis." Martin joked.

"Haha! Oh, Martin. If only I got to know you more." Sheogorath laughed. "I must get back to my duties. Once again, thank you." Martin said as he fades away. Sheogorath leaves the temple and teleports back to the Shivering Isles via his S.U.V. and arrives in a large garage filled with expensive cars and robot arms folded on the ceiling. He enters his palace and finds the lobby without chaos. "Ten minutes. That's a new record." he commented as he looked at his watch.

He walks upstairs to his bedroom and finds Jyggalag lying on the floor. "You okay? C'mon. Get up, Mr. No Fun Allowed!" Sheogorath said as he tried to lift Jyggalag. "I saw… blood." Jyggalag said monotonously. "Beg yer pardon?" Sheogorath asked. "In one year, a new threat will arrive. It's blurry. I cannot see." he said.

"Dervenin, get the crane!" Sheogorath yelled behind him. Meanwhile in a destroyed dystopian city, a man in shining crystalline armour meets a 22-foot tall black-cloaked figure in the street. "I have what you need." The figure said gruffly.

THE END


End file.
